Lots of things are possible
The appeals court hearing on the restraining order on the ban (three levels, we can do three levels) is happening.
The broad legal issue is whether Trump acted within his authority in blocking the entry of people from Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Syria and Yemen, or whether his order essentially amounts to a discriminatory ban on Muslims. The judges must also weigh the harm the ban imposes, and whether it is proper for them to intervene in a national security matter on which the president is viewed as the ultimate authority.
It’s very unfortunate that we have an arrangement where one person is viewed as the ultimate authority on such matters, especially since – as we now realize – we have no way at all to filter out completely inappropriate unqualified uninformed irresponsible adventurers. We thought we did but we don’t. Any damn fool can get the job, and proceed to fuck things up from here to Sunday.
Testifying before the House Homeland Security Committee, Kelly forcefully defended the measure as a necessary “pause” so officials could improve vetting procedures. He said that it is “entirely possible” that dangerous people are now entering the country with the order on hold — as Trump has said via Twitter — and that officials might not know about them until it is too late.
“Not until the boom,” he said when asked if he could provide evidence of a dangerous person coming into the country since the ban was suspended.
Of course it’s possible – but an infinite number of things are possible, and that doesn’t mean we have to take punitive measures to try to prevent them – especially since it’s also true that it’s possible that the punitive measures will set off a cascade of new possible disasters.
It’s always possible that dangerous people are entering the country, because that’s just how life is. It’s possible that you’ll fall down the stairs and break your neck, it’s possible that a tree will lose a huge limb just as I walk under it, it’s possible that a sudden plague will kill us all. The fact that it’s possible does not justify extraordinary steps to prevent it. You need more than “possible.”
Kelly’s view does not reflect the consensus of the national security community. Ten high-ranking diplomatic and security officials — among them former secretaries of state John F. Kerry and Madeleine Albright, former CIA director Leon Panetta, former CIA and National Security Agency director Michael V. Hayden — said in a legal filing there was “no national security purpose” for a complete barring of people from the seven affected countries.
Because however possible the “dangerous person” scenario may be, it’s not particularly likely, given the measures already in place.
The difference between “possible” and “likely” is a pretty important difference.
It’s also possible that there may already be dangerous people here, walking around, looking just like our neighbors, and a lot like us. I mean, white (if we’re white), “ordinary” looking without dreadlocks or something, dressing just as “normal” as possible without turbans or beards, but with lots and lots and lots of guns and ammo and a great big chip on their shoulder.
Preaching to the choir here, but: it is important to keep in mind and publicize the fact that we are already doing pretty damn extreme vetting, particularly in the case of refugees. They are required to get medical certification, security certification, and go through three personal interviews, and if any information is missing or irregular, they do not get in. For those who are ultimately approved, the process will generally take 18-24 months, and this is for people who have already been forced out of their homes and are living in precarious situations.
As for the bullshit about the “pause”, it is also the case that a 120 day delay will cause many (all?) of the required certifications to expire, thus resetting the clock & adding another 18-24 months. Of course, the real goal is to keep refugees out permanently, and the “pause” is a pretense.
Apologies if any of the above is inaccurate. IANAL, and this is what I gleaned from some recent presentations by immigration lawyers working on behalf of refugees. By all means, correct me if I am mistaken – I support actual facts.
I have frequently been surprised – and sometimes become irascible, I admit – at the confusion caused to the average American by the sheer variety of human life on this planet and its different customs, styles of dress and daily habits.
Given that I am not alone in this, who is more likely to be able to identify in an airport queue a deeply dangerous terrorist? Is it the person who is a specialist in these matters, who knows the country of origin and has been working on a vetting process which takes a very, very long time or some bloke who has suddenly been told to let none of them in and to take no notice of DHS, the CIA and heaven knows who else?
The ban was so broad and so unspecific that it created confusion – real terrorists love and take advantage of confusion – and not a little embarrassment. Poor Boris Johnson had to stay up all night persuading someone that dual nationals who travelled on a British passport should not be turned back at the border, including the 3 Members of Parliament who were born in Yemen. Nor should Norwegians travelling on diplomatic passports, serving members of the British Army, this one born in Grenada, whose pay book showed they had served in Iraq – remember Iraq? – any more than toddlers should be kept for 20 hours without food or handcuffed for that matter!
The way it all happened is itself proof that this was a Me! Tarzan! moment on the part of an ill-informed and unadvised head of state. A properly thought through policy would not have alarmed and inconvenienced many hundreds of people, threatened diplomatic relations with allies or broken international law as well as, very probably, the US Constitution which some large bloke in an ill-fitting suit swore to uphold just days ago but does not appear to have read yet.
This. You captured Trump and his followers in one 3 word phrase. Especially since this also manages to sum up the view of non-white people as other, just like that show always managed to do. Noble white dude must save everyone else.