UPDATED @ 10 PM CST: I told you so. Two The able federal judges have stayed the executive order. Expect a WHOLE LOT more of this, in the coming weeks — on all his orders.
[End, updated portion.]
The ditto-heads at PowerLine Blog are openly admitting that it is… largely incomprehensible.
But they are cheering it, just the same.
It is also… clearly beyond Mr. Trump’s powers. The President may not repeal, by executive order, protections granted by law through prior Congressional action. That is simple black letter law, established over 150-plus years.
His latest order was supposedly mostly authored by Mr. Bannon — and it is a drafting mess. Scant surprise, there.
But it is clear that the intent of it is to ban (or extremely vet) people from certain countries — in short, based on nation of origin.
The Hart-Celler amendments (of 1965) to the Immigration Act specifically outlaw that whole idea.
The ACLU has already sued, in federal court in New York. Soon the District Court judge there will enjoin its operation. A President alone cannot undo what the Congress has affirmatively done, in this arena.
In 1965, Congress passed, and President Johnson signed (in shadow of the Statue of Liberty), a change in law. [It outlawed the former quotas by country practice, under a 1952 immigration amendment, based on a 1921 Act.] The 1965 amendments ended discrimination against immigrants — based on national origin.
“….The Hart-Celler Act of 1965:
Established the basic structure of today’s immigration law.
Abolished the national origins quota system (originally established in 1921 and most recently modified in 1952), while attempting to keep immigration to a manageable level. Family reunification became the cornerstone of U.S. immigration policy….
The preference system for visa admissions detailed in the law (modified in 1990) was as follows:
Unmarried adult sons and daughters of U.S. citizens.
Spouses and children and unmarried sons and daughters of permanent resident aliens.
Members of the professions and scientists and artists of exceptional ability.
Married children of U.S. citizens.
Brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens over age twenty-one.
Skilled and unskilled workers in occupations for which there is insufficient labor supply.
Refugees given conditional entry or adjustment — chiefly people from Communist countries and the Middle East.
Applicants not entitled to preceding preferences — i.e., everyone else….”
Now you know. And the above means Mr. Trump cannot give Christians (residing in these countries) the priority he pretends to confer — not without an Act of Congress, at least.
Mr. Trump has once again wasted our taxpayer funds on a vain, ultimately impotent and poorly thought out overreach.
Powerline Lies... 