According to Kansas Secretary of State (and top Trump ally) Kris Kobach, immigration advisors to the president-elect are weighing the options of a registry of immigrants from Muslim-majority countries and countries with a significant terrorist presence.
Kobach, an architect of immigration reform in Arizona and other places, says such a route is possible via executive orders to “hit the ground running” with the Department of Homeland Security to curb immigration from potential terrorists.
While sounding extreme, a similar procedure was conducted already by the American government following the 9/11 terrorists attacks. A registry of “high-risk” immigrants was kept until it was dissolved under the Obama administration in 2011 over concerns of anti-Muslim bias.
Trump’s stance has wavered somewhat during the campaign. He made headlines when he called for a complete ban of Muslim immigrants. He later softened by suggesting the government only disallow immigrants from countries with a high degree of terror. Now the talk of a registry of individuals from high-risk countries would be, more-or-less, another softening approach to immigration reform. To be fair, this option is still leaps and bounds more comprehensive than Obama’s strategy for preventing terrorism based on political correctness.
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The idea of a “registry” is still alarming to many liberal critics. In fact, the DNC has already pounced on Kobach’s revelations with a statement.
“Donald Trump’s proposed ‘Muslim registry’ is nothing less than institutionalized discrimination and a brazen assault on freedom of religion,” Democratic National Committee spokesman Mark Paustenbach said in a statement.“The Trump team has clearly forgotten history and they’re already dooming their own chances of success by repeating the worst mistakes of the past. This is a shameful and dangerous start, and they will be held accountable.”
The Trump campaign has not yet commented on Kobach’s remarks.
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