No. of Recommendations: 16
Lincoln suspended habeas corpus for people in states that were defying federal authority.It's also worth remembering that modern states are not
defying federal authority. They are being sticklers for the
limits of federal authority, it's true. And one can debate whether that's a good
choice.
But the federal government does not have the authority to require states to enforce federal law. States have to
comply with federal law, but they cannot be required to assist the federal government in enforcing federal law against other people. And they certainly can't be required to assist the federal government in the absence of any federal statute requiring it.
So, for example, if a local police department decides they don't want to honor ICE's detainer request, they are not defying federal authority. ICE itself has chosen only to make these voluntary and not try to force compliance, there isn't a federal law that obligates local governments to comply even if ICE tried to claim they were mandatory, and even if there were a federal law it would almost certainly violate Anti-Commandeering precedent.
That means this situation is not at all analogous to the Civil War use of the Suspension Clause and other measures. It also means these folks are not "insurrectionists," because it is certainly not insurrection to insist that the federal government stay within the lines of its authority.
https://www.ice.gov/immigration-detainers
