Vice President Mike Pence seemed dismissive Sunday of criticism of the White House rollout of President Trump’s immigration ban order, responding to criticism that lawmakers hadn’t been consulted with a comment that political “niceties” had been overlooked.
“Well, at the outset of an administration that is as busy keeping our promises to the American people as this one, we’ll concede that sometimes the usual Washington niceties of informing members of Congress were not, you know, fully implemented as they’ve been in the past,” Pence said during a appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “And on this immigration issue, the president was determined working with the Justice Department, working with the Department of Homeland Security, to take executive action that would suspend immigration from countries that we know are compromised by terror. It was the right thing to do. The American people welcome it. And I truly do believe, I truly do believe as we go forward we’ll see the legal foundation of that affirmed by our highest courts.”
The order would ban travel into the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries where terrorist organizations are present. So far, the order has not been affirmed by the courts, though it may yet be. A federal appeals court early Sunday maintained a hold on its implementation until at least Monday.
Though many Republican legislators agreed with the order, there were widespread complaints that it was promulgated too hastily and without input from Capitol Hill, resulting in unnecessary complications for travelers and needlessly amping up the level of public criticism.
