What is habeas corpus? And can it be suspended?

May 22, 2025 | 10:39am

Habeus corpus. It’s a fancy-sounding phrase normally reserved for law school classrooms. But it’s now at the center of America’s migrant crisis. During a Senate hearing on May 20, New Hampshire’s Maggie Hassan was not happy with the definition given by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. Now with talk that the Trump administration is "actively looking at" suspending the Constitutional right, what exactly is habeas corpus? And can it even be suspended?