Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, told reporters on Friday that the US Constitution allowed for the legal liberty to be suspended in times of "rebellion or invasion". His comments come as judges have sought to challenge some recent detentions made by the Trump administration in an effort to combat illegal immigration, as well as remove dissenting foreign students.

"A lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not," Miller said. There are several pending civil cases against the Trump administration's deportation of undocumented migrants based on habeas corpus. Most recently, a federal judge ordered the release of a Turkish university student who had been detained for six weeks after writing an article that was critical of Israel. Last week, another judge ordered a Columbia University student detained over his advocacy for Palestinians be released after a petition on habeas corpus grounds.

However, other judges have sided with the Trump administration in such disputes. Miller described habeas corpus as a "privilege", and said Congress had already passed a law stripping judicial courts of jurisdiction over immigration cases. Legal experts and critics have questioned the veracity of his interpretation of US law. "Congress has the authority to suspend habeas corpus - not Stephen Miller, not the president," Marc Elias, an attorney for the Democratic Party, told MSNBC. One of Trump's key campaign pledges was to deport millions of immigrants from the US, and his administration has pursued different means of expediting deportations since returning to the White House. (BBC)