Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has no idea what habeas corpus is.
Trump adviser Stephen Miller recently suggested suspending habeas corpus if courts block the administration’s efforts to deport immigrants.
While testifying before the senate on Tuesday Noem was asked by Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H) to define habeas corpus. The question resulted in the stunning exchange during which Noem falsely claimed that habeas corpus gives Donald Trump a “constitutional right” to conduct deportations without due process.
“Well, habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country and suspend their right to–” Noem replied as Hassan jumped in to correct her.
“That’s incorrect,” Hassan said. “Habeas corpus is the legal principle that requires that the government provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people. If not for that protection, the government could simply arrest people, including American citizens, and hold them indefinitely for no reason. Habeas corpus is the foundational right that separates free societies like America from police states like North Korea.”
Asked if she supports “the core protection that habeas corpus provides” Noem responded “yeah, I support habeas corpus.”
“I also recognize that the President of the United States has the authority under the Constitution to decide if it should be suspended or not. Let us be clear, though, that this President–” she continued before Hassan jumped in to correct her again.
“It has never been done without approval of Congress,” the senator said. “Even Abraham Lincoln got retroactive approval from Congress.”
Article I of the Constitution gives Congress the authority to suspend habeas corpus “in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.”
