What is habeas corpus and why might Donald Trump want to suspend it?

It is a safeguard against unlawful imprisonment - but the White House is "actively looking" at pausing it.

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Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, says the legal principle is a "privilege" that could be suspended to make it easier to detain and deport immigrants.

Recent court challenges by migrants and dissenting students who have been held in immigration detention centres have cited habeas corpus as a reason for their release.

But what the legal procedure does - and what could happen if it were to be suspended - is complex.

Scholars say the principle that a person should not be illegally imprisoned pre-dates the Magna Carta, and has been a cornerstone of the legal system in the UK, US and other democratic countries around the world for centuries.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwynl8jv4gjo

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