‘We’re Looking at a Number of Different Options’
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in a rare press briefing Monday refused to rule out President Donald Trump suspending Americans’ constitutional rights, such as habeas corpus, now that he is sending 5000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Huckabee Sanders also said the President has been discussing and is considering a variety of options.
“The president has used the word ‘invasion’ about this caravan,” one reporter noted during the White House press briefing. “That’s the same word that’s mentioned in the Constitution three times. ‘Invasion.’ With respect to the powers of the federal government to repel invasion.”
“Have there been any discussions here, with respect to that, about the fact that the Constitution provides, for example, the suspension of habeas corpus to repel an invasion, if the public safety requires it.”
“Is the president talking about possibly ignoring posse comitatus by having the military go down there – there’s a provision in the law that allows for a Constitutional exception.”
“We’re looking at a number of different options,” was all Huckabee Sanders would say in response, while noting the Dept. of Defense is holding a press conference later today.
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The Center for Constitutional Rights defines habeas corpus as “the legal procedure that keeps the government from holding you indefinitely without showing cause. When you challenge your detention by filing a habeas corpus petition, the executive branch must explain to a neutral judge its justification for holding you. Habeas corpus prevents the King from simply locking up subjects in secret dungeons and throwing away the key. It’s been a pillar of Western law since the signing of the Magna Carta in England in 1215.”
Suspension of habeas corpus would be extraordinarily rare. Presidents Abraham Lincoln and George W. Bush did so, the latter for matters regarding terrorism. Some argue only Congress has the legal authority to suspend Habeas corpus.