MAGA influencers press Trump to suspend habeas corpus for deportations
The first question at Monday's White House press briefing came from a conservative influencer with wide reach who wanted to know whether the administration would be ending the right to a hearing for millions of migrants living in the country illegally. The White House didn't dismiss the idea out of hand. Instead, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said there hadn't be talks about the suspension of the right guaranteed in the Constitution except under extraordinary circumstances.
'I have not heard such discussions take place, but I can assure you that the President and the entire administration are certainly open to all legal and constitutional remedies to ensure we can continue with the promise of deporting illegal criminals on our nation's border,' said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. The question came form Rogan O'Handley, who got the first crack of the day from a 'new media' seat at the White House. The former entertainment lawyer who posts under the X account DC Draino, with 2 million followers.
He said 'historic assaults on our republic require reciprocal action for our government. Please let us know if and when the Trump administration is planning to suspend the writ of habeas corpus to circumvent new radical judges or infringing on his article two hours and to start shipping out early.' As O'Handley noted, habeas corpus has been suspended a few times in U.S. history under grave circumstances. Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War. Ulysses S. Grant suspended it in nine South Carolina counties during a spate of Ku Klus Klan violence, and Franklin Roosevelt declared martial law in Hawaii immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The Constitution states that: 'The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.' President Trump and top advisors have long described the flood of migration as an invasion, although Trump and his team have been touting a stunning drop in border apprehensions.
After saying she hadn't heard discussions about it, Leavitt added: 'And I also agree with the premise of your question, which doesn't happen in this room often. But I do agree with yours. It is absurd that the previous administration was allowed to allow 15 million – that we know about – illegal aliens into this country with very little pushback from our judicial branch, but this President is trying to simply enforce our nation's immigration laws and is facing roadblock after road block,' she said. O'Handley, who has also promoted the idea on former chief White House strategist Steve Bannon's podcast. He touted the idea online. 'Radical judges are unconstitutionally infringing upon his Presidential powers,' he posted. 'Time to turn up the heat.'
Fact-checkers have disputed the 15 million figure, and Homan himself on Monday gave his own estimate that there were more than 20 million people living in the entire country illegally. Immigration lawyer Aaron Reichlin-Melnick pounced on the habeas corpus question, writing: 'Oh my god, the first question Leavitt gets is from a far-right influencer who butters up Trump, then asks "if and when" Trump should suspend the writ of habeas corpus for deportations to get around judges. Not joking. They've been pushing this on the right for about a week now.'
O'Handley posted in response that, 'Media is already losing their minds over my question about Trump suspending the writ of habeas corpus to deport millions of illegals Good.' The White House was unlikely to be surprised by the question. On his April 22 show, Bannon asked O'Handley about the idea to 'suspend habeas corpus and start rolling them out of here, brother.'
O'Handley responded: 'We're not even suspending it for American citizens ... these are illegal aliens.They do not have a right to be here ... If the courts want to stop us we go around the courts by using constitutional authority to do so.' Senior Trump aide Steven Miller has been speaking about the logistical challenges of holding hearings for every illegal migrant being deported. And President Trump posted Saturday: 'It is not possible to have trials for millions and millions of people. We know who the Criminals are, and we must get them out of the U.S.A. – and FAST!'
The discussion came at a press briefing where border czar Tom Homan said the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador despite a judge's order was not an 'error' but rather an 'oversight.' He told reporters Monday that by the end of the year the administration will have deported more than 1 million migrants.
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