SecretaryKristi Noemof the Department of Homeland Security couldn't define a key constitutional right when asked about it in a Senate hearing. "Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country," Noem told a Senate committee on May 20, in a response to a senator's question. But "habeas corpus" means the opposite. According tothe glossaryof the U.S. Courts, habeas corpus, requires law enforcement to justify a prisoner's continued confinement, a right enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. The Trump administration is considering suspending the right to habeas corpus for detained immigrants. As Homeland Security chief, Noem oversees U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that is currently holding nearly 50,000 immigrants in detention. Sen. Margaret Wood Hassan (D-Massachusetts) asked Noem to define "habeas corpus" after the Trump administrationfloated the idea of revoking itas part of the government's immigration crackdown. "Let me stop you," Hassan said, interrupting Noem, who framed it as a right of the president's. "That's incorrect. Habeas corpus is the legal principle that requires that the government provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people." The word comes from Latin, meaning "you have the body." "A writ of habeas corpus generally is a judicial order forcing law enforcement authorities to produce a prisoner they are holding, and to justify the prisoner's continued confinement," according to U.S. Courts. Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to PresidentDonald Trump,told reporters May 9that the administration is "actively looking at" suspending the constitutional right that allows people to challenge their detention in court. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Kristi Noem botches 'habeas corpus' definition at Senate hearing
