Adviser: Trump team may recommend registry of Muslim migrants
On Wednesday, The Hill reported that advisers with the Trump transition team could recommend a registry for immigrants from Muslim countries and countries known to be hotbeds of terrorism.
According to The Hill:
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, an immigration hard-liner who has been advising Trump, told Reuters that transition policy advisers are weighing the merits of such a registry.
He added that the policy could be recommended as part of initial executive orders “so that Trump and the Department of Homeland Security hit the ground running.”
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Trump has long embraced the policies of immigration hard-liners like Kobach meant to curb illegal immigration from Mexico and cut off potential immigration by would-be terrorists.
Last November, Trump told an NBC reporter that he would “certainly implement” a database to keep tabs on Muslims in America, adding that Muslims would be required to sign up.
Reuters added (Emphasis mine):
Kobach, who media reports say is a key member of Trump’s transition team, said he had participated in regular conference calls with about a dozen Trump immigration advisers for the past two to three months.
Trump’s transition team did not respond to requests for confirmation of Kobach’s role. The president-elect has not committed to following any specific recommendations from advisory groups.
Trump, who scored an upset victory last week over Democrat Hillary Clinton, made building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border a central issue of his campaign and has pledged to step up immigration enforcement against the country’s 11 million undocumented immigrants. He has also said he supports “extreme vetting” of Muslims entering the United States as a national security measure.
Last year, Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.”
But, The Hill added, Trump’s campaign “has also updated its policy, which calls for a ban on immigration from countries that have a history of terrorism, not a ban on travel to the United States by all Muslims.”
The idea of a registry isn’t new, the Hill observed. A registry was set up after the 9/11 terror attacks but it was dissolved in 2011 after questions about anti-Muslim bias and redundancy, Reuters said.
Naturally, Democrats freaked out over the possibility of such a registry.
“Donald Trump’s proposed ‘Muslim registry’ is nothing less than institutionalized discrimination and a brazen assault on freedom of religion,” said Democratic National Committee spokesman Mark Paustenbach.
“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,” he added. “This is a shameful and dangerous start, and they will be held accountable.”
Related:
- Tough as nails Trump goes after the Muslim Brotherhood
- Hillary Clinton: Muslims ‘have nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism’ — Video
- CBS: Muslim claims Trump’s Words Will Move American-Muslims To Violence (Video)
- Rush Limbaugh explains why he said Barack Obama is dangerous to America
- Obama: We can’t kill terrorists who murder innocents, suggests jobs program
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