Bloomberg Businessweek skewered President Donald Trump’s controversial executive order on immigration in just 10 words.
On this week’s cover, Trump is holding up a signed document, but the original text has been replaced with “(Insert hastily drafted, legally dubious, economically destabilizing executive order here).” Though the cover doesn’t specify which of his many executive orders it’s referencing, the article inside breaks down the potentially disastrous consequences of his decision to indefinitely ban Syrian refugees as well as temporarily bar visitors from seven predominately Muslim countries.
In the story, titled “Stability Is Good for Business. Trump’s Whims Threaten It,” columnist Matt Levine analyzes the business repercussions of Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Levine argues that the chaos created by the executive order, which showcases the president’s power to create arbitrary rules on a whim without much oversight, jeopardizes “the firm legal foundation on which U.S. business has thrived.”
“If the president can, without consulting the courts or Congress, banish U.S. lawful permanent residents, then he can do anything,” Levine wrote. “If there’s no rule of law for some people, there’s no rule of law for anyone.”
Hundreds of lawful permanent U.S. residents, also known as green card holders, were detained in airports across the country last weekend after Trump signed the order into law on Friday. Many detainees were released when federal judges ordered Saturday night that refugees who had been cleared for immigration could not be deported and lawyers must be allowed access to detained lawful permanent residents ― though reports found some Customs and Border Protection agents defied the rulings.
Following nationwide protests, the Trump administration walked back parts of the order on Sunday and announced that green card holders would be permitted to stay in the U.S.
“The reason the U.S. is a good place to do business is that, for the past two centuries, it’s built a firm foundation on the rule of law,” Levine wrote. “President Trump almost undid that in a weekend. That’s bad for business.”
The new issue of Bloomberg Businessweek hits newsstands Monday.