Stephen Miller Says the White House Is ‘Looking’ at Suspending Habeas Corpus Due to ‘Invasion’

The White House deputy chief of staff didn’t specify who could lose their right to challenge deportation.

White House aide Stephen Miller speaks to reporters.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said Friday that the administration is looking into suspending habeas corpus, potentially eliminating a path for immigrants to challenge their detention.

“The Constitution is clear — and that of course is the supreme law of the land — that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of an invasion,” Miller told reporters outside the White House. “So I would say that’s an option we’re actively looking at. A lot of this depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not.”

The right to habeas corpus is spelled out in Article I of the U.S. Constitution, with limited exceptions for it to be suspended “when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.” Presidents have rarely made broad suspensions — the most sweeping example is when Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War.