Trump administration weighs
waiver for Habeas Corpus

No one would be safe from detention without due process

By Irwin Rapoport

May 22, 2025

The brazen and outrageous arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka on May 9 by more than twenty armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents outside the Department of Homeland Security’s Delaney Hall, a federally-contracted detention center, sent a clear message that the Trump administration is serious about ending democracy in America and that it is time to man the barricades to prevent further authoritarian actions.

The incident must be deemed as a line in the sand. Trump crossed the Rubicon and is a danger to the state.

This action means no one is safe from sudden arrest without a warrant and being detained for a few hours, days, and at the most extreme, shipped out of the country without due process to prisons in El Salvador, Libya, or anywhere else the government fancies.

Alina Habba, acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, defended the arrest in an X post: “He has willingly chosen to disregard the law. That will not stand in this state. He has been taken in custody. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.”

The arrest of Baraka, who was released a few hours later, was recorded by several of the thirty plus people gathered outside the detention center for migrants to protest how the DHS, via ICE agents, are snatching international students studying in the U.S. with visas, which have been suddenly and arbitrarily revoked, legal immigrants, and illegal immigrants.

The brazen and outrageous arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka on May 9… sent a clear message that the Trump administration is serious about ending democracy in America.

These are being arrested in cities such as Boston, where a Turkish graduate student at Tufts University who co-authored an op-ed about the situation in Gaza in a student newspaper was grabbed in broad daylight by a squad of ICE agents and shoved into a van. She was then shipped to a detention facility in Louisiana, where she and others awaited deportation without due process, not being informed of the charges, unable to contact a lawyer, and not given a hearing.

The student was finally able to secure legal representation and, after six weeks in a cell, was released by a Vermont judge without any travel restrictions. Others have also been released and are telling their stories

Trump deported 238 people to a notorious prison in El Salvador, and despite court orders, his administration claims it can’t bring them back, that it’s out of their hands. Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an El Salvadoran with a wife and child, was among those flown to the prison despite having protected status. Another group of detainees were on buses heading towards planes bound for El Salvador, but were saved thanks to a timely court order to prevent the flight.

Democratic Congressmen held a protest outside the facility in Louisiana, and Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen visited Abrego Garcia in El Salvador, where he and his staff feared arrest.

Newark mayor arrested

It was in the middle of an MSNBC discussion on the proposal of Stephen Miller, the deputy White House chief of staff, to suspend habeas corpus guarantees to bypass legal challenges to deport legal and illegal migrants under the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, that breaking news of the mayor’s arrest took center stage. The timing was extraordinary. Here is the report, with the footage of the arrest. The arrest begins at the 6:00 minute mark:

YouTube video player

Baraka non-violently resisted, protesting his innocence and the illegal nature of the action, saying “get your hands off of me” and “you cannot do…” Three New Jersey Democratic House of Representatives – 80-year-old Bonnie Watson Coleman, Robert Menendez, and LeMonica McIver heroically shielded the mayor with their bodies while demonstrators expressed their outrage, chanting “this is not right!’ Thankfully, the incident was documented, so we have the evidence.

Jelani Cobb, Dean of the School of Journalism of Columbia University, one of the MSNBC panellists, eloquently said: “The point is meant to say that there are no checks on the administration’s authority, and… if the mayor is not safe, then no one is safe. And it is meant to convey that message.”

The incident is disturbing and beyond surreal. It echoes scenes from Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Stalinist Russia, China (from Mao to the present), and post-WWII dictatorships. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris had warned Americans about the implications of a second Trump administration.

It took just over 100 days for the Donald Trump regime to enter authoritarian mode. The actions leading up to the mayor’s arrest were bad enough, with the administration blatantly disregarding court orders and rulings. Trump has now entered into uncharted waters in terms of American history.

Fortunately, principled individuals were on hand during the arrest, and these champions of democracy and rights and freedoms are inspiring tens of millions of their fellow citizens to resist and fight back. Hopefully, this action heralds the beginning of the end for Trump and his henchmen.

A Man For All Seasons chronicles how Henry VIII harassed, arrested, and convicted Sir Thomas More of treason for refusing to take the oath to recognize the king’s marriage to Anne Boleyn. In the film, Thomas Cromwell, Henry’s principal secretary and chief minister, told Moore, “This isn’t Spain, this is England,” referring to the Inquisition. England, at the time, was the bastion of freedom of speech, just as the U.S. is today. Moore, who refused to relent on a point of principle, lost his head.

‘With the administration blatantly disregarding court orders and rulings. Trump has now entered into uncharted waters in terms of American history.’

Should Trump succeed in becoming a full-fledged dictator, will he emulate Joseph Stalin, who sent millions to gulags in Siberia, executed and starved millions, and held the infamous show trials in the 1930s?

I hope that May 9, 2025, is transformed into a new day of infamy and Trump and his Republican zealots are not only placed on notice, but a nationwide revolt is unleashed, complete with demonstrations, legal actions, and a massive turnout in the 2026 mid-term elections.

Americans cannot rest until this regime is thrown out. Democratic legislators and citizens are stepping up to the plate. Will the arrest of Baraka be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and convince the remaining moderate Republican legislators and party supporters to break from the president?

Should democracy die in America, it can happen anywhere. Those who care about democracy must help those in the U.S. We are all bound together in this struggle against tyranny.

Appearing on CNN, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at DHS Tricia McLaughlin pointed out that members of Congress could be arrested in the future. In true MAGA fashion, she reiterated that Baraka was arrested for “storming” the facility despite video showing him being taken into custody outside the chain-link gate. She stressed that Baraka and the members of Congress present “put law enforcement at risk, this actually put the detainees, as well, at risk.”

“I think that we should let viewers know there will likely be more arrests coming,” said McLaughlin. “We actually have body camera footage of some of these members of Congress assaulting our ICE enforcement officers, including body slamming a female ICE officer. So we will be showing that to viewers very shortly.” The conversation continued:

CNN host Victor Blackwell: “You say a video of members of Congress body slamming ICE officials?”McLaughlin: “That’s correct, sir, it’s disgusting.”
Blackwell: “Okay, and so, if you have that video, are you suggesting that members of Congress will be arrested who were there yesterday?”
McLaughlin: “This is an ongoing investigation, and that is definitely on the table.”
Blackwell: “Who has the video?”
McLaughlin: “ICE does, and we will be releasing that shortly… We’re not playing.”

‘So far, the courts are rejecting Trump’s illegal and unconstitutional actions. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is backing the ruling of lower court judges such as James Boasberg.’

The assault on habeas corpus

Trump’s desire to eliminate the right of habeas corpus, a bedrock of our judicial system, takes us back to medieval England and the Barons’ revolt, which led to King John signing the Magna Carta in 1215. This landmark document enshrined many of the rights and freedoms we cherish and take for granted in the English-speaking world.

The BBC summarized the legal concept: “[it] literally means ‘you should have the body’ – allows for a person to be brought before a judge so the legality of their detention can be decided by a judge.”

At a White House briefing on May 9, Miller said: “The constitution is clear, and that of course is the supreme law of the land, that the privilege of the written of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of invasion. So, I would say that’s an option we’re actively looking at. Look, it all depends [on] whether the courts do the right thing or not. Congress passed a body of law known as the Immigration Nationality Act, which stripped Article Iii courts… of jurisdiction over immigration cases.”

The suspension is specifically for migrants, but once a slippery slope begins, where will it end?

Habeas corpus was suspended on four occasions: during the American Civil War under Abraham Lincoln; to quash the activities of the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction; in the Philippines in 1905 during the American occupation of the country; and infamously in 1941 following the attack on Pearl Harbor, in which Japanese Americans were imprisoned in internment camps.

The Canadian Press article, Trump team mulls suspending the constitutional right of habeas corpus to speed deportations. Can it? provides excellent information. This video, Stephen Miller gets response he feared after shock announcement, features acclaimed legal analyst Glenn Kirschner, who obliterates Miller’s contentions.

So far, the courts are rejecting Trump’s illegal and unconstitutional actions. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is backing the ruling of lower court judges such as James Boasberg. Furthermore, Roberts has warned Trump that his verbal assaults upon the judiciary will not be tolerated and that there will be consequences.

If the line does not hold, we are all in serious trouble.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of WestmountMag.ca or its publishers.

Feature image: Jake Parkinson – Pixabay