Independent UK - Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security secretary, surprised members of a Senate hearing by appearing not to understand what a fundamental right that the White House is threatening to suspend actually means.
Sitting before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Noem repeated a recent claim made by Stephen Miller, a Trump administration official, that they are “looking at” suspending habeas corpus in order to deport undocumented immigrants.
Habeas corpus allows people to challenge the legality of their detainment, and has been a right in the United States since 1789.
But when asked by Senator Maggie Hassan to define it, Noem claimed it is “a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country.”
Hassan interrupted Noem, declaring, “That’s incorrect.”
Habeas corpus is a constitutional right awarded to all people in the United States, including immigrants, to challenge their detention by the government. When invoked, the government must provide a reason for the detainment.
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