May 9, 2025

Contact: media@haitianbridge.org, info@haitianbridge.org 

San Diego, CA — Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA)  denounces the Trump administration’s reported efforts to explore the suspension of habeas corpus—a constitutional safeguard that protects individuals from unlawful detention. According to reports, senior White House adviser Stephen Miller has floated the idea of invoking the Constitution’s suspension clause  under the pretense of an “invasion” at the southern border.

“This is not just an attack on migrants—it is a direct threat to the constitutional rights of every person in the United States,” said Guerline Jozef, Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance. “If the government can suspend due process protections for immigrants today, it can do the same to American citizens tomorrow. No one should be comfortable with that precedent.”

In Boumediene v. Bush , the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed this principle by ruling that even detainees held at Guantánamo Bay had the right to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts. The Court held that the suspension of habeas corpus requires more than political justification; it demands constitutional necessity. To ignore this precedent is to ignore the Constitution itself. If foreign nationals held offshore are entitled to habeas protections, it is unconscionable to consider denying those rights to people detained on U.S. soil—especially Black migrants, including Haitians, who are already disproportionately harmed by the immigration enforcement system.

“We have seen throughout history what happens when governments use fear as a justification to strip away civil liberties,” Jozef continued. “This is how democracies erode—from the margins inward. We must not allow the suffering of migrants to become the test case for dismantling the rights of all people in this country.”

Haitian Bridge Alliance calls on Congress, civil society, and every American who cherishes justice to reject any attempt to suspend habeas corpus. The nation must remain committed to principles that uphold human dignity, legal fairness, and constitutional accountability.

ABOUT HAITIAN BRIDGE ALLIANCE

Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), also known as “The Bridge”, is a grassroots community organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies, foreign policy, and provides migrants and immigrants with humanitarian, legal, and social services, with a particular focus on Black migrants, the Haitian community, women and girls, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and survivors of torture and other human rights abuses. HBA also seeks to elevate the issues unique to Black migrants and builds solidarity and collective movement toward policy change. Anpil men chay pa lou (“Many hands make the load light”). Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn –  @haitianbridge