President Trump is actively considering suspending the writ of habeas corpus to expedite deportations of undocumented immigrants, according to senior White House adviser Stephen Miller. Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Friday, Miller said the administration is weighing the rare constitutional maneuver as it clashes with federal courts over immigration enforcement.
"The Constitution is clear," Miller stated. "The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of invasion. So, to say that's an option we're actively looking at ... a lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not."
The suspension of habeas corpus would mark a dramatic escalation in the Trump administration's immigration strategy, allowing authorities to detain individuals without immediate judicial oversight. The constitutional clause Miller referenced appears in Article I, which enumerates Congressional-not presidential-powers. Legal scholars say that distinction is critical.
"Only Congress can suspend habeas corpus-and unilateral suspensions by the President are per se unconstitutional," Steve Vladeck, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, wrote in his legal newsletter. He added: "He's suggesting that the administration would (unlawfully) suspend habeas corpus if (but apparently only if) it disagrees with how courts rule in these cases."
Miller framed the move as a response to what he called judicial overreach. "The courts aren't just at war with the executive branch," he said. "The courts are at war, these radical rogue judges, with the legislative branch as well too."
Trump has repeatedly labeled undocumented immigration as an "invasion" in executive orders and public remarks, a rhetorical foundation that Miller used to justify the possibility of invoking wartime powers. In March, the administration cited the Alien Enemies Act to expedite deportations of alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. However, two federal judges, including one appointed by Trump, ruled that the administration had not demonstrated that the U.S. was under invasion.
The Trump administration has previously defied judicial orders. In one instance, it failed to return deported individuals after a court ruling. A federal judge threatened to hold the government in contempt for not complying with a Supreme Court order to facilitate the return of Kilmar Armando ábrego García, who had been deported in violation of that ruling.
Historically, habeas corpus has been suspended only four times in U.S. history: during the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Philippine insurrection in 1905, and in Hawaii after the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack. President Abraham Lincoln's suspension during the Civil War was challenged by then-Chief Justice Roger Taney, who ruled it unconstitutional without congressional approval. Lincoln later sought and received such approval from Congress.
Miller's remarks suggest the White House is preparing for a direct confrontation with the judiciary over its immigration agenda. "All of that will inform the choice that the president ultimately makes," he said.
