Noem Incorrectly Defines Habeas Corpus as Trump’s “Right” to Deport People

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem gave an outrageously incorrect definition of the basic and key legal term habeas corpus on Tuesday, as the Trump administration is exploring suspending the fundamental right in what would represent a massive step toward authoritarianism.

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-New Hampshire) asked Noem to simply define habeas corpus — which allows people to challenge the legality of their detention in court, a key right of due process — in a hearing by the Senate homeland security committee. Noem’s answer was wrong in nearly every aspect.

“Well, habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country,” Noem said.

Interrupting her, Hassan said that Noem’s answer was “incorrect.”

“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,” Hassan said.

After providing the correct definition, Hassan asked Noem if she supports the protections provided by habeas corpus.

“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,” Noem said.

This assertion is also incorrect. Legal experts nearly universally agree that only Congress can suspend habeas corpus. This can only happen “when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it,” as the Constitution stipulates in Article I, which outlines Congress’s powers.

Noem’s comments are disturbing coming from the head of an agency responsible for carrying out mass deportations under the Trump administration with seemingly no concern for the legality of their actions, even openly flouting court orders in order to do so.

Indeed, a report released Monday by libertarian think tank Cato Institute found that at least 50, and potentially more, of the 240 Venezuelan men deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration were in fact in the U.S. legally — despite the Trump administration’s repeated assertions that they were all undocumented immigrants.

Though the Supreme Court has found that none of the deportations were carried out constitutionally, the report lends even further evidence to the idea that proper due process could save the deported immigrants from life imprisonment in El Salvador camps.

There is no such thing as a constitutional right for a president, Donald Trump or otherwise, to deport people. Rather, the Constitution plainly states that everyone in the U.S. is to be afforded due process, including noncitizens. This has been recently upheld by numerous courts, including the Supreme Court, in challenges to the Trump administration’s wanton deportation campaign.

Noem’s answer was also strange considering that, just last week, she spoke about suspending habeas corpus during a House hearing in a way that suggested that she knew the real definition. Heinously, she said that she believes that the entry of immigrants at the southern border qualifies as an “invasion” that allows for the suspension of due process.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said earlier this month that the administration is considering suspending habeas corpus, saying that “a lot of it depends on whether the courts” issue decisions agreeing with the administration or not. His arguments, similarly suggesting that the president can suspend habeas corpus, were patently wrong, legal experts have said.