The Threat of Suspending Habeas Corpus: A Call to Action

This week, news broke that the White House is considering suspending habeas corpus for migrants in federal detention. Stephen Miller, a key architect of Trump’s immigration policy, has openly stated that they are “actively looking at” using the Suspension Clause of the Constitution to justify indefinite detention without trial. While many are understandably focused on the implications for immigrants, we must recognize this broader threat: if they can suspend the Constitution for some, they can do it for anyone.

This isn’t just about immigration. It’s about authoritarian creep.

What Is Habeas Corpus—and Why Does It Matter?

Habeas corpus is one of the oldest protections in the Anglo-American legal tradition. It allows individuals the right to challenge the legality of their detention in front of a judge. Essentially, it serves as a firewall against unchecked government power.

Without habeas corpus, the state can detain you without accusing you of a crime, presenting evidence, or providing a trial. It can essentially make you disappear.

And now, that reality is being contemplated.

Miller and others claim that the influx of migrants constitutes an “invasion,” one of the few conditions under which the Constitution allows suspension of habeas corpus. However, this situation is not a battlefield—it’s simply a border. Labeling it as an invasion is not a legal interpretation; it’s a deliberate political framing.

The Constitution does not grant the president unchecked power to make this decision unilaterally. It explicitly states that Congress must have a say. This is crucial because the Constitution was drafted in response to monarchs who imprisoned dissenters without trial. The framers understood the danger of allowing any executive to define a threat and declare war on it.

The Real Danger Isn’t Just to Migrants

It is a grave mistake to view this only as a problem for undocumented immigrants. History has shown us that the government rarely builds cages for just one group.

Initially, they frame it as necessary for border enforcement. Then they may expand it to “known gang affiliates.” Next, it could apply to protestors. Eventually, it can encompass anyone they deem undesirable. This is how rights erode—quietly, through selective enforcement—until one day, anyone could find themselves on the list.

Legal status will not protect you when the state decides you are the threat. Citizenship offers little comfort when the government is not required to prove its case.

This is how the groundwork for broader repression gets laid: by first targeting a politically vulnerable group and daring the rest of us to care.

We’ve Been Here Before

In American history, every time habeas corpus has been suspended—like during Lincoln’s time in the Civil War, FDR’s internment of Japanese Americans, or the Bush-era detentions at Guantánamo—it has sparked controversy. Each instance has justified massive civil liberties violations. Although courts have checked some of these abuses, it often happens too late. Countless lives are upended, communities destroyed, and public trust in the system obliterated.

Every time, the justifications sound all too familiar: “We’re in a crisis.” “The system is overwhelmed.” “These people don’t deserve the same rights.”

Does that sound familiar?

America has a long and shameful record of defining “the other” as less worthy of constitutional protection. The moment you permit the government to decide who is deserving of due process, you have already lost the battle.

This Is a Test

Let’s be clear: this is a test balloon. They are floating the idea now to gauge who protests and who remains silent. If the public shrugs, the path is cleared for expansion. That’s how authoritarianism creeps in—not with a loud bang but through small, unchallenged legal precedents.

Right now, it involves detained migrants. Tomorrow, it could target anyone labeled a threat to “order.” Political activists, journalists, protestors, whistleblowers—you.

Habeas corpus is not just a legal term. It is the foundation of any society that claims to be governed by the rule of law. Without it, there is no legal recourse—only power and those who wield it.

What You Can Do

This is an issue you cannot afford to ignore because it may not affect you—yet. Here’s how you can take action:

• Watch the Language. Be mindful of words like “invasion.” Such rhetoric is often used to justify extraordinary governmental actions. Challenge it when you encounter it.

• Engage with Your Representatives. Congress—not the president—has the authority to suspend habeas corpus. Communicate to your elected officials that this issue matters to you.

  
  

• Support Civil Liberties Organizations. Groups like ACLU, Human Rights First, and others are preparing for legal battles if this policy moves forward. Their work is vital.

  
  

• Talk About It. Don’t allow these issues to be buried under headlines about elections or celebrity gossip. The erosion of your rights is happening quietly, and you need to make noise.

  
  

Final Thoughts

You do not have to support open borders to understand the danger that this poses. All you need to uphold is a basic principle: that the government must be held accountable for its actions.

Suspending habeas corpus for any group is a serious violation of rights. If we permit it to happen, we signal to those in power that constitutional rights are optional. The only thing standing between us and indefinite detention will be public favor at that moment.

That is not democracy. That is authoritarianism.

And it always begins with individuals the government deems unworthy or inconsequential.

Let’s ensure they are proven wrong.