Trump and the Immigration Bureaucracy: Should We Expect Civil Servants to Dissent?
In a post on Just Security (“Trump and the Immigration Bureaucracy: Should We Expect Civil Servants to Dissent?”, Professor Cristina Rodríguez considers the following:
“President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) barring entry from seven Muslim majority countries and suspending the refugee resettlement program has sparked public outcry, caused upheaval and suffering at the nation’s airports, and prompted fast-moving litigation. It also has shed stark light on some critical questions about the relationship between the President and the bureaucracy. When the President has articulated a set of policy priorities, how can he ensure that they permeate the bureaucracy? The absence of strong political control and supervision can produce arbitrary and even chaotic government. But what happens if the arbitrariness comes from the top? If the President’s priorities are actually illegal or immoral? Should we depend on or unleash the valiant civil servant to check presidential abuses of power?”
KJ