Noem says Trump can deport who he wants, botches what ‘habeas corpus’ means

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem testified at a House Committee on Homeland Security budget hearing in Washington, DC on May 14, 2025. During a Senate hearing, Noem mistakenly defined habeas corpus as the president’s right to deport individuals without due process, which was corrected by Senator Maggie Hassan. In response to this, DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated that past presidents have suspended habeas corpus during times of crisis, although Congress technically holds that power. Noem’s comments were significant as her agency has been conducting detentions and deportations that have been ruled to violate detainees’ habeas corpus rights. The Trump administration’s attempts to suspend habeas corpus for certain migrants were blocked by the Supreme Court, emphasizing the importance of due process rights in challenging detentions and deportations.