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Hello Fellow Democrats,
The latest step in the Trump Administration’s march toward a dictatorship came this past week when White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller announced that Trump and his team were “seriously considering suspending habeas corpus” in their efforts to bypass the courts in order to rid the country of those that they deem to be undesirable. For those who don’t know who Stephen Miller is, he’s the White House staffer with the uncanny resemblance, both physically and philosophically, to Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels.
The suspension of habeas corpus would basically mean that ICE and other federal law enforcement entities would no longer be required to show justification for arresting and imprisoning anyone. Those being arrested would no longer be entitled to basic rights of any sort. Of course, Trump is claiming that he would only use this tool to rid the country of “the worst of the worst”, but once suspended, it would be suspended for everyone . . . undocumented migrants, green card holders, foreign students studying here on visas, protestors at rallies or even journalists and private citizens who dare to question Trump and his actions.
The reality is that the administration does NOT have the authority to suspend habeas corpus. It can be done by the federal government and has been done in a few extreme cases in the past, but the courts have held that suspension of habeas is a power restricted to CONGRESS, not a power of the President, and only to be used in the rarest of situations. But if Trump tries to claim it as a presidential power we would need for the Supreme Court to step in and then hope that Trump would actually abide by the decision of the court. He could also attempt to get a complicit Congress to suspend habeas corpus, which underscores the necessity of flipping at least the House of Representatives next year.
It’s time for Democrats, along with freedom loving independents and Republicans to get busy and get involved. We need to take a stand against Trump and his dystopian plans. If not us, then who? If not now, then when?
Bill
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