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To the editor:
Will President Trump suspend habeas corpus for criminal aliens in the U.S. who chose to remain despite the rule of law?
Habeas corpus, a common law procedure dating back to 500 B.C., empowers prisoners to challenge jailers. It translates from the Latin as “you should have a body” and allows incarcerated citizens to seek relief from unlawful confinement. The Suspension Clause of the U.S. Constitution allows habeas corpus suspension in cases of rebellion or invasion, prioritizing public safety.
Trump’s suspension would echo Abraham Lincoln’s and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s wartime suspension of habeas corpus to safeguard public safety. Today, judges hindering arrests and deportations of terrorists, murderers, sex offenders and rapists necessitate Trump’s suspension for these criminal aliens aided by lawless judges. He should invoke the Alien Enemies Act, declaring an unlawful invasion facilitated by the Biden Administration, and empower the Department of Defense to arrest the invaders.
Note that Trump won’t arrest American citizens like past presidents. Instead, he intends to detain and deport criminal perpetrators designated as illegal aliens and enemy combatants.
Legal scholars suggest that the president may suspend habeas corpus on his own authority as a war power, such as in an illegal invasion across an open border.
How would FDR or Abraham Lincoln have responded to this threat?
Robert Sica
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reenjoe
FDR and Lincoln were wartime presidents. Trump is not.
Refugees escaping poverty and violence are not the same as an invading army or traitorous spies. And illegal border crossing is considered a misdemeanor under U.S. law, not an act of war.
When an immigrant does commit terrorism, murder, **** or another serious criminal act, we have a perfectly good justice system to deal with it. The person is prosecuted in a court of law. Evidence is presented and a jury is convinced beyond a reasonable doubt of the individual's guilt. Sentencing could and should include deportation.
You and Trump may not like it, but that is the rule of law.
Tuesday, May 20 Report this
J.Donne
Trump, as a wartime president, has the authority to suspend habeas corpus in cases of illegal immigration, such as an invasion across an open border. FDR and Lincoln would wholeheartedly approve of Trump’s decision to detain and deport criminal perpetrators designated as illegal aliens and enemy combatants.
(Let’s not forget the Doctrine of International Comity, which emphasizes reciprocity in public international law. Illegals have several options: submit to the Constitution, face imprisonment or servitude under the 13th Amendment, be detained indefinitely under the Patriot Act for “national” security, be extradited as fugitives, or be deported for illegal entry. It’s a straightforward process!)
Tuesday, May 20 Report this
J.Donne
In the context of a wartime situation, President Trump holds the authority to suspend habeas corpus on his own initiative, exercising his war powers. This authority could be invoked in response to an illegal invasion of the United States across its border. Both Franklin D. Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln would unequivocally support Trump’s decision to “detain and deport” individuals who have been designated as undocumented-immigrants and enemy combatants. Individuals facing deportation have the option to comply with the Constitution, face incarceration or servitude under the 13th Amendment, be indefinitely detained under the Patriot Act for “national security,” be extradited as fugitives, or be deported for their illegal entry.
As Commander-in-Chief, President Trump can repatriate undocumented individuals or enemy combatants to their countries. This authority is valid.
(Undocumented immigrants and enemy combatants do not take precedence over American citizens and border security, as evidenced by the 2024 presidential election.)
Hello Reenjoe,
Ensure your sentences are relevant, clear, and complete. Your first sentence states FDR and Lincoln were wartime presidents. Your second sentence states Trump is not. Trump is not what? Your second sentence is incomplete!
Wednesday, May 21 Report this
reenjoe
JDonne, you can write and re-write the same specious nonsense twice, three times or ten times. Donald Trump is not now, nor has he ever been a wartime president. Illegal border crossing is not an invasion or an act of war; it is a misdemeanor under U.S. law.
Even Trump-appointed Judge Fernando Rodriquez Jr. rejected Trump's categorization of illegal crossings as an invasion. "The plain, ordinary meaning of 'invasion' was an entry into the nation's territory by a military force or an organized, armed force," Rodriguez wrote in his order on May 1, when he found the administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act "unlawful."
Your claims that Lincoln and FDR would "wholeheartedly" or "unequivocally" support Trump's attempt to suspend the writ over illegal immigration is pure speculation. Neither you nor anyone else knows what either man might do if they held office today. For the record, Congress voted to suspend this writ in 1863 to legally indemnify Lincoln due to his unconstitutional, unilateral suspension of Habeas Corpus.
Wednesday, May 21 Report this
J.Donne
President Trump signed an Executive Order suspending physical entry of illegal aliens at the southern border. Based on the Immigration and Nationality Act and Article 2 of the Constitution, the order authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Justice, and State to repel, repatriate, and remove illegal aliens from the border. Trump has restricted access to immigration laws that would allow illegal aliens involved in the invasion to remain in the U.S., such as asylum.
Illegal immigration is a felony that negatively impacts American workers, taxpayers, and public safety, straining local resources and costing the U.S. billions annually.
If partisan judges “illegally” attempt to obstruct Trump’s efforts to secure the United States from the illegal immigration influx, “Trump will suspend habeas corpus.”
Undocumented immigrants crossing the border illegally are committing a felony and invading the United States. I am delighted to bring to your attention the utmost seriousness of this most distressing situation.
Thursday, May 22 Report this