Trump’s immigration executive order sure sounds legal

By Tom Quiner

Boston Public Library

The United States Code

I’m not an attorney.

I’m not a judge.

I’m just a plain, old American citizen who reads the law and thinks it means what it says. So when I read that the U.S Code (8USC 1182) says the following …

(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.

… I take it to mean that Donald Trump’s executive order on immigrants and refugees from terrorist nations makes sense and is well within the law.

Honorable people can criticize the implementation of the Executive Order, which by all accounts, was disruptive.

Honorable people can disagree on whether it is good policy or not. But honorable judges can’t ignore the law just because they think Mr. Trump is a jerk.

Am I missing something?