The diary of this particular US administration is bound to be heavy with incident. Executive orders are now coming out of the Trump administration at pace, and the question of whether they will compel obedience or not looms. In many parts of the US, the answers have already been determined in advance. As ever, it is the US legal system that has stepped in, with flocks of legal eagles ready to add their bit to the unfolding chaos.
One of the hottest issues remains immigration and the fantasy of controlling it in the name of security. As President Donald Trump promised to do, a halt to the immigration programme would take place, however ill-reasoned.
Then, with a degree of arbitrary silliness, nationals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen faced a 90-day travel ban as outlined in the order. (There were delightfully bizarre omissions: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, always screaming for recognition in such lists, was not added.)
The reasoning behind the executive order of January 27 entitled “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States” has a Disneyland flavour to it. It imposes a 120-day moratorium on the refugee settlement program; it cited the “entry of nationals of Syria” as “detrimental to the interests of the United States.” Then came the seven banned countries.
With the banned list for travel coming into effect, travel chaos ensued. Trump proved oblivious. “It’s working out very…