Trump’s truth about ‘due process’ has the left melting down



Tuesday’s congressional testimony from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem turned heads for all the wrong reasons. Pressed to define “habeas corpus,” she stumbled. And while I respect Noem, this moment revealed just how dangerously misunderstood one of our most vital legal protections has become — especially as it’s weaponized in the immigration debate.

Habeas corpus is not a loophole. It’s a shield. It’s the constitutional protection that prevents a government from detaining a person — any person — without first justifying the detention before a neutral judge. It doesn’t guarantee freedom. It demands due process. Prove it or release them.

Bureaucratic inertia, activist judges, and political cowardice have turned due process into a slow-motion invasion. And the left knows it.

And yet, this doctrine — so essential to our liberty — is now being twisted by the political left into something it was never meant to be: a free pass for illegal immigration.

The left wants to frame this as a matter of compassion and rights. Leftists ask: “What about habeas corpus for migrants?” The implication is clear: They see any attempt to enforce immigration law as an attack on civil liberties.

But that’s a lie. Habeas corpus is not an excuse for indefinite presence. It doesn’t guarantee that every person who crosses the border gets to stay. It simply requires that we follow a process — a just process.

And that’s exactly what President Donald Trump has proposed.

Habeas corpus, rightly understood

Habeas corpus is the front door to the courtroom. It simply requires the government to justify why someone is being held or detained. It’s not about citizenship. It’s about human dignity.

America’s founders knew this — and that’s why they extended the right to persons, not just citizens. Habeas corpus isn’t a pass to stay in America forever — it’s a demand for legal clarity: “Why are you holding me?” That’s it.

If the government has a lawful reason — such as illegal entry — then deportation is a legitimate outcome. And yet, the left treats any enforcement of immigration law as a betrayal of American ideals.

The danger today isn’t that habeas corpus is being ignored; it’s that it’s being hijacked. The system is being overwhelmed with bad-faith cases, endless appeals, and delays that stretch for years. Right now, the immigration courts are buried under 3.3 million pending cases. The average wait time to have your case heard is four years. In some places, people are being scheduled for court dates as far out in 2032. Where is the justice in that?

This is not compassion. This is national sabotage.

Weaponizing due process

The left uses this legal bottleneck as a weapon, not a shield. Democrats invoke due process as if it requires the government to play a never-ending shell game with public safety. But that’s not what due process means. Due process means the state must play by the rules. It means a judge hears a case. It means the law is applied justly and equally. It does not mean an open border by procedural default.

So no, Trump is not proposing the end of habeas corpus. He’s calling out a broken system and saying, out loud, what millions of Americans already know: If we don’t fix this, we don’t have a country.

This crisis wasn’t an accident — it was engineered. It’s a Cloward-Piven playbook, designed to overwhelm the system. Bureaucratic inertia, activist judges, and political cowardice have turned due process into a slow-motion invasion. And the left knows it.

Abandon the Constitution?

Remember, the Constitution is not a suicide pact. But how do we balance the Constitution and our national survival without descending into authoritarianism? Abandon the Constitution? No. Burn the house down to get rid of the rats? Absolutely not. The Constitution itself gives us the tools to take on this crisis head on.

The federal government has clear authority over immigration. Illegal presence in the United States is not a protected right. Congress has the power to deny entry, enforce expedited removals, and reject bogus asylum claims. Much of this is already authorized by law — it’s simply not being used.

RELATED: Trump shrugs at immigration law — here’s what he should have said

Photo by: Rodrigo Varela/NBC via Getty Images

President Trump’s idea is simple: Use the tools we already have. Declare the southern border a national security emergency. Establish temporary military tribunals for triage. Process asylum claims swiftly outside the clogged court system. Restore “Remain in Mexico” so that the border is no longer a remote court room. Appoint more immigration judges, assign them to high-volume areas, and hold streamlined hearings that still respect due process.

That’s not authoritarian. That’s leadership.

The path forward

Trump is not trying to destroy habeas corpus. He’s trying to save it from being twisted into a self-destructive parody of itself. Leftists have turned due process into delay, justice into gridlock, and they’re dragging the entire country into their chaos.

It’s time to draw the line. Protect habeas corpus. Use it lawfully. Use it wisely. And yes — use it to restore order at the border. Because if we lose that firewall, we lose the republic.

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America welcomes guests — but not those who want to destroy it



America is the most generous country on Earth. We open our doors, offer opportunities, and welcome those who seek a better life. But make no mistake — this country is a home, not a doormat. If you, as a guest, start trashing the place, don’t be surprised when we show you the door.

Mahmoud Khalil is exactly that — a guest. He’s a green-card holder who led violent, anti-Semitic protests at Columbia University. Labeling what he did as mere “protests” softens the outright hate against the Jewish people and Western civilization that he espoused during his weeks-long standoff.

Green-card holders are not entitled to the same protections as citizens.

The left is accusing President Trump’s decision to revoke Khalil’s green-card status as a violation of his rights while dismissing the critical fact that Khalil is not a citizen — and as such, actions have consequences.

Residents are not citizens

A green card is not a birthright; it is a privilege. It’s a golden ticket invitation to live and work in the United States. But as in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, that ticket comes with terms and conditions. If you break the rules, you’re out. It’s not a passport. It’s not citizenship. It’s more like a revocable lease.

Imagine you’re handed the keys to a grand estate. The owners invite you to sit at their table, pour you a glass of wine, and say, “Stay as long as you like. Just honor the house rules.” And yet, rather than showing gratitude, you start smashing windows, tearing down walls, and whispering to others, “This place is awful. It must be destroyed.”

How long before the owner snatches those keys from your hand? And who in their right mind would object? If you threatened to burn down the guest wing, you would be thrown out, and the owner would be right to do so.

Deportations are lawful

Today, we are watching green-card holders — guests in our home — sow chaos, spew hatred, and threaten the foundations of the very country that took them in.

The left is wringing its hands, insisting that these guests have a “right” to do all of those things — which is simply not true. Green-card holders are legal permanent residents, not citizens. In fact, back in 1893, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress could deport noncitizens at will. National sovereignty means we have the power to determine who comes into our house. If someone isn’t a respectful guest, the Supreme Court ruled we can kick them out.

Let’s be clear: Deporting Mahmoud Khalil is not a violation of his rights. He doesn’t have the same protections as U.S. citizens. We have opened our doors, allowing millions to chase their dreams in America. But that welcome comes with an expectation: Don’t destroy what you were invited into. You don’t come into my house and start swinging a hammer at the foundation. You don’t set fire to the roof. And you surely don’t get to claim victimhood when you’re shown the exit.

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'It's a bargain': Trump floats plan to let foreigners buy American residency for $5 million



President Donald Trump announced a plan this week to begin selling residency in the U.S. to those qualifying foreign nationals who are willing to cough up several million dollars.

"You have a green card. This is a gold card," Trump said while signing executive orders Tuesday. "We're going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million, and that's going to give you green card privileges plus."

Trump said that his gold card initiative would not only extract a one-time lump sum payment from successful and/or wealthy migrants but prompt them to spend "a lot of money," pay full taxes, and employ locals in the United States. He indicated further that American companies could buy gold cards on behalf of foreign talent.

The president suggested that more than 1 million vetted candidates might opt in to the program in hopes of securing a pathway to citizenship. This would mean a $5 trillion payday on gold card acquisitions alone.

When discussing the program further during his Cabinet meeting Wednesday, Trump stated, "I happen to think it's going to sell like crazy. It's a bargain."

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick indicated that the gold card initiative would be an improvement on the existing investment visa program known as EB-5, which he said was "full of nonsense, make-believe, and fraud, and it was a way to get a green card that was low-priced."

'It's going to sell like crazy.'

Under the EB-5 program, foreign investors, their spouses, and their unmarried children under the age of 21 are eligible to apply for permanent residence if they commit to investing at least $1.05 million in a U.S.-based commercial enterprise as well as to creating or preserving 10 permanent full-time jobs for American workers.

"The president said, 'Rather than having this sort of ridiculous EB-5 program, we're going to end the EB-5 program,'" said Lutnick. "'We're going to replace it with the Trump gold card.'"

Lutnick and Trump indicated that the program would help pay down the deficit.

After Trump appeared to suggest that applicants from any nation could apply, a reporter asked whether Russian oligarchs would be eligible. The president expressed an openness but noted they're likely "not quite as wealthy as they used to be."

While the president insisted it is within his authority to replace the EB-5 visa program and institute his own, Forbes noted that the U.S. Constitution assigns Congress the authority to regulate immigration under Article 1, Section 8. Consequently, Trump's plan may face significant legal challenges even with Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress.

Numerous countries around the globe have similar golden visa programs whereby individuals can secure residence by investment. According to London-based consultancy Henley & Partners, Canada, the United Kingdom, and over 60% of EU member states have active golden visa programs.

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