In a week dominated first by President Donald Trump’s first address in Congress and then by the revelations involving Attorney General #Jeff Sessions, the public has almost lost sight of the other major issues dogging the White House
Controversial order
Candidate Donald Trump made Immigration a major part of his presidential campaign, initially in relation to illegal Mexican migrants, but particularly towards limiting Moslem migration into the country.
So it was no surprise when one of the first executive orders signed by newly inaugurated President Donald Trump was to sign an order effectively banning Moslem immigration into the United States from seven “at risk” countries in the Middle East.
Ostensibly the reason for the ban was to allay the risks of terrorism even though no migrants from these countries had been involved in terrorist activities in the United States and, even more strangely, the order did not affect those countries from which the 9/11 terrorists had come.
Court challenges
This order took effect immediately and caused instant disruption at the airports around the world as people were not allowed to board flights and those who made it into American airports were not allowed entry, even those who already held green cards.
Just as quickly legal challenges were begun against the order and soon the order was suspended and is awaiting the final outcomes in the courts. The challenges on the order were not only procedural, but also constitutional as the President had stated in an interview that Christian refugees would have been given priority which potentially made the order a de facto religious test which is not permitted under the Constitution.
New order?
In the weeks since then President Trump and members of his staff have stated that a new order addressing the issues would be signed. This would have avoided the possibility of a Supreme Court ruling on the original ban order. So far, despite repeated statements to it would occur the new order has not yet been signed.
This issue, like others, has been lost in the confusion caused by the continuing scandal regarding the allegations of Russian interference in the presidential campaign which this week saw Attorney General Jeff Sessions embroiled and which led to his decision to recuse himself from the investigations of the allegation by the intelligence community.
Distractions
The obvious question is when will the new order be signed? In this way we will know whether or not the contentious issues that were the reasons that the courts have suspended the original order have been addressed.
Even more important, the country and the world are also wondering whether or not the White House will finally be able to resolve all the controversies hanging over its head. The Moslem ban is not the only important issue that is not gaining the attention it deserves.
The confession by President Trump that he was surprised at the complexity of repealing Obamacare, particularly without a replacement ready, is an admission that the campaign promises were made without consideration of the political and bureaucratic realities of running a modern Democracy.
All the country can now do is wait and see when the Oval Office will finally begin to truly address issues and abandon the rhetoric of the presidential campaign, or even finally fill in all the places of the Administration yet to be assigned. Up to now there has been little evidence of solid decisions and much of continued rhetoric.
We are still wondering when the buck will stop and in front of whom.
