Much fuss is being made over President Trump's recent executive order to temporarily halt immigration from certain countries with incidents of Islamic extremism or terror-related unrest. People from the left and the right question the morality, legality, propriety and even the sanity of this measure. One-time Secretary of State Madeleine Albright gushed to CNN that the Statue of Liberty now has tears in its eyes. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts went so far as to implore her fellow senators to reverse the order, to condemn what she called an "illegal, unconstitutional and immoral" measure.
Setting aside the question of the timing and promulgation of the order which have more to do with the circumstances surrounding the measure than the measure itself, it is worth examining the basic complaints leveled so clearly by Senator Warren: that Trump's order is "illegal, unconstitutional and immoral."
Perhaps Warren has engaged in repetition for effect, but calling a measure "illegal" implies that that measure is also "unconstitutional", at least as far as American law is concerned. The reverse is also true: any measure proven to be unconstitutional is also de facto illegal and has no binding force whatever. So arguing that any measure can be both "illegal" and "unconstitutional" either indulges rhetorical redundancy or misrepresents the terms. It may be that Warren intends "illegal" to mean "unstatutory," which simultaneously interprets her statement with more nuance and bankrupts it of all legitimacy, as we shall see. All that she could mean, then, is that Trump's order either follows no current statutory regulation or defies such regulation: plainly, she means the same thing by "unconstitutional."
The Constitution, however, contains a trio of clear references regarding the Executive's role in immigration. Article I, section 8 gives Congress the duty and power to "establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization"; thereafter, Article 6 clearly states that "this Constitution, and all Laws made in Pursuance thereof...shall be the supreme Law of the Land"; and finally, Article II, section 3 ordains that the President shall "take care that the Laws be faithfully executed". The relationship is clear: Congress legislates the rules governing immigration and insofar as those laws conform to the "supreme Law" the President is obliged to enforce them.
Now, the President already has Congressionally delegated powers regarding the control of immigrants and visitors to the United States. 8 U.S.C. 1182(f) states:
(f)Suspension of entry or imposition of restrictions by President
Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate. Whenever the Attorney General finds that a commercial airline has failed to comply with regulations of the Attorney General relating to requirements of airlines for the detection of fraudulent documents used by passengers traveling to the United States (including the training of personnel in such detection), the Attorney General may suspend the entry of some or all aliens transported to the United States by such airline.
In pursuance of such aims Trump enacted his temporary halt on immigration from countries deemed to host political elements detrimental to the interests of the United States.
Either Senator Warren is unaware of the existence of this statutory protection of such Executive action, or she disregards it. In no way can she claim it legal to bar the President from acting on such laws made in pursuance of the Constitution. It is his duty to faithfully execute precisely such laws, and so he has done however unsystematically or surprisingly. To obstruct the President in the execution of the law—the measure for which Warren ultimately advocates—would itself be an illegal act.
Concern for those immigrants with previously approved visas currently held in airport custody should not be blown out of proportion either. Immigrants with pre-approved visas will undoubtedly be released quickly and without further bother. I also find the hysterical tweets by Senators Chris Murphy and Diane Feinstein over children in Syria hypocritical to say the least. Their party has overseen and protected the murder of tens of millions of innocent children in the safest space that should ever exist: the womb. And if that were not enough, the idea that the United States can hold all displaced persons from any country without consequence has been roundly disproved (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPjzfGChGlE and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DFPKNdYFkE&t=441s).
CNN cannot avoid hearing the conclusion that Trump has the law on his side, and that any court which has a respect for rule of law investigating this order would find his ban legal and non-discriminatory (pace whatever Al Jazeera and Harvard Law might suppose http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/01/wrong-trump-immigration-ban-170130102549929.html). Moreover, anyone who reads the "ban" cannot miss the leniency of Trump's measures. No ban on the Muslim religion (which Trump could have enacted under the statutory banner of "any class of aliens"), no ban on all immigrants from all Middle Eastern countries, and the halt itself is to last no longer than ninety (90) days. Three months from now, this measure will expire, unless further legal measures are needed.
As for the morality of the order, Senator Warren must answer one simple question: which is truly immoral, to temporarily halt the influx of immigrants, many of whom are already forbidden from entering the United States by virtue of the preceding sections of 8 U.S.C. 1182 (particularly 4a, "Public Charges"), or to disregard the safety and security of those citizens of the United States who are and continue to be the primary concern of the President of the United States?
It seems Warren would prefer to permanently prejudice the President against the citizens of the United States rather than rein in or review their suicidal open-door policy.
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