No Kings? Meet King Don and King John – Part 2: Trump’s Assault on Habeas Corpus and the Rule of Law

SEATTLE. USA, April 24 (IPS) – Habeas tattoo? Among Trump’s most outrageous assaults on the rule of law has been an array of legal wrecking balls demolishing due process, habeas corpus, related foundational rights, and the separation of powers in the bargain.

For many years, his target of choice for these efforts has been immigrants. But in his second term, not only has he escalated his persecution of those with and without protected immigration status, he has also increasingly attacked the rights of U.S. Citizens to free speech, assembly, the press, due process, and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure.

The targets have included journalists and news sources, academics and universities, state and local governments, corporate officials, military officers, Federal employees, and members of Congress.

One operation of Trump’s mass deportation machine stands out as a template for negating the rule of law: the summary removal, without anything resembling due process, of 261 mainly Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison (Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo – Terrorism Confinement Center).

They were given no prior notice of their deportation and were not told their destination.

For 137 Venezuelans, the Trump administration invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA) which, it claimed, allowed summary deportations without recourse to habeas corpus or other due process.

The other 101 Venezuelans and 23 Salvadorans were also summarily deported, under uncertain statutory authority.

This is the second part of a three-part commentary. Read Part 1: No Kings? Meet King Don and King John – Part 1 of 3 to start from the beginning.

Sign at No Kings demonstration. Credit: Peter Costantini