The White House won't rule out suspending habeas corpus over migrant caravan
When it comes to taking extreme measures in response to the approaching caravan of migrants from Central America, the White House isn't ruling anything out.
During the press briefing Monday afternoon, a reporter asked White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders whether the administration might consider suspending habeas corpus, or protection from arbitrary imprisonment, to deal with the caravan, noting that the Constitution allows for this in the case of a true invasion. Trump earlier in the day referred to the caravan of migrants as an "invasion," which critics dispute given many migrants' intention to legally request asylum at a port of entry. The reporter also asked if Trump might ignore the Posse Comitatus Act and send the military to the border to conduct domestic police functions. Sanders hedged, simply saying the White House is "looking at a number of different options."
As Sanders attempted to move on, the reporter asked her to clarify that these are, in fact, options on the table. "I'm not going to get into specific policies that we're considering," she responded. "There's a number of actions that we're looking at taking."
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Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen similarly said last week that "every possible action is on the table" to stop the migrants, reassuringly noting that there's no intention to shoot at migrants "right now."
To be fair, though, Vox's Dara Lind points out that suspending habeas corpus "doesn't map onto any proposal I've heard about" in regard to dealing with the migrants, suggesting Sanders maybe just "wasn't prepared for" the question. Watch Sanders' comment below. Brendan Morrow
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