President Trump’s executive order freezing immigrant entry to the United States is disturbing on several levels. The offered rationale is national security but the national security apparatus apparently was not involved until after the order was issued. That fact is significant in gauging the substance of the order and the process followed in issuing it.
Others are addressing the legal and humanitarian problems raised by the substance of the president’s action. Equally troubling is the process and the attitude that produced it. The consequences of the order will be revealed as events unfold. One of those consequences is already apparent. As a result of this action, the nation is less unified than it was before the order was issued and this notwithstanding the president’s pledge to bring us together.
How did this happen? Assuming the president and his advisers did not intend to drive the nation further apart, there must have been a failure to consider all the consequences of issuing such an order. I am troubled but not surprised, by the “business” approach reflected throughout the president’s actions. The president’s own experience and that of those he has appointed and brought into his personal camp is almost exclusively from a universe in which the focus is narrow. President Trump has said he is smart and that he consults before deciding. For some reason that has not always served him well.
Unfortunately, social responsibility has all but disappeared in decision-making by large corporations. Making money as fast as possible is the overwhelming force at work. Decision-makers coming from that culture are not likely to instinctively try to balance competing interests. Hopefully the Trump team can learn to do so before too much harm is inflicted.
That brings me back to the executive order on immigration.
The White House felt no need to consult or even carefully explain the order and how it would work. Was this the “corporate” mentality at work? The CEO commands an action and the junior corporate officers are charged with working it out. But in government, especially the national government, there are a number of considerations to take into account. Those considerations are practical concerns about implementation, image concerns about public perception and in this case, international concerns about foreign relations and national security.
Our president takes some pride in being the proverbial “bull in the china shop.” Those who supported him wanted change. President Trump has delivered change but at what cost?
RICHARD A. HESSE
Hopkinton