Kris Kobach took plan for Department of Homeland Security into Trump meeting
Here's our SuperZoom of Chris Kobach's plans... pic.twitter.com/bKerg2Om8b
- Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) November 21, 2016
A written plan for the Department of Homeland Security brought by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach into his meeting with President-elect Donald Trump spells out a desire to question “high-risk” immigrants over support for Sharia law and the U.S. Constitution.
Kobach, an early Trump supporter, met with the president-elect on Sunday and has been mentioned as a potential pick for a position within the administration. Some speculation has centered on the secretary of Homeland Security, and Kobach’s plan appears to lend credence to that possibility.
An Associated Press photographer shot an image of Kobach going into the meeting and clutching a binder along with a stack of papers. One page is visible and readable, though partly obscured by Kobach’s hand.
The document is arranged in a numbered format. The first point reads, “Bar the Entry of Potential Terrorists.”
The document calls for updating and reintroducing the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System. The program was implemented in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, but largely suspended in 2011.
“All aliens from high-risk areas are tracked,” the document reads.
The document mirrors what Kobach told Reuters in the days after the election. In an interview with the news service, he said an immigration policy group might recommend reinstating the NSEERS system, which would act as a registry of immigrants.
Kobach was one of the original architects of the system, which was implemented under Attorney General John Ashcroft and President George W. Bush.
The document then calls for “extreme vetting questions” for “high-risk aliens”; echoing Trump’s campaign rhetoric. High-risk aliens would be questioned about support for Sharia law (Islamic religious law), jihad, the equality of men and women and the U.S. Constitution.
The document also asks for reducing the intake of Syrian refugees to zero.
The document contains obscured references to the arrest and removal of illegal aliens, “386 miles of existing actual wall,” the post-9/11 PATRIOT Act, and voter rolls. “Draft amendments to National Voter -” can also be seen, perhaps a reference to the National Voter Registration Act.
The rest of the page is either partially or totally obscured by Kobach’s hand and arm. When the photograph was taken, Kobach was standing outside with Trump - it is highly unlikely Kobach wasn’t aware he was being photographed.
A spokeswoman for Kobach didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations expressed alarm at Kobach’s plan and the document’s proposal for what the organization called “inquisition-style questions.” Yet spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said he wasn’t surprised.
“I think this is unfortunately in line with the actions we’ve seen from President-elect Trump’s transition team,” Hooper said.
Kansas Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, criticized Kobach for openly carrying such a document.
“That’s the height of irony if he’s wanting a job in Homeland Security and you’re able to see in a photograph what should be confidential information,” Hensley said.
A Trump transition team statement on the Sunday meeting said Trump and Kobach met “to discuss border security, international terrorism, and reforming federal bureaucracy.”
Kobach has built a national reputation as a proponent of hard-line stances on immigration and election law. As Kansas secretary of state, he is embroiled in litigation - defending the state’s proof of citizenship voting law.
Kobach endorsed Trump before the Kansas GOP caucus. He also said he was advising Trump, including on the concept of building a wall and making Mexico pay for it - a core plank of Trump’s platform.
More recently, Kobach said he is advising Trump’s transition efforts.
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