Magnified version of photo shows potential Homeland Security secretary's plan for 'extreme vetting' of immigrants
The Associated Press released a photo of Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach meeting with Donald Trump, and he was holding papers that detail his plans for his first year in office were he selected for the top Department of Homeland Security job.
Kobach, who has been called Trump's "immigration whisperer," met with Trump this week as the president-elect plans his transition into the White House. He's a rumored potential pick for secretary of Homeland Security.
Kobach is known for having a hardline stance on immigration, and a portion of his homeland security plan reflects some of Trump's bolder campaign proclamations about securing US borders.
The paper shown in the photo, titled "Department of Homeland Security — Kobach strategic plan for first 365 days," references "extreme vetting" questions for immigrants, a registration and tracking system, and a shutdown of Syrian refugees seeking asylum in the US.
Here's the text that was visible on the paper:
1. Bar the Entry of Potential Terrorists
Update and reintroduce the NSEERS screening and tracking system (National Security Entry-Exit Registration System) that was in place from 2002-2005. All aliens from high-risk areas are tracked.
Add extreme vetting questions for high-risk aliens: question them regarding support for Sharia Law, jihad, equality of men and women, the United States Constitution.
Reduce intake of Syrian refugees to zero, using authority under the 1980 Refugee Act.
Trump had mentioned "extreme vetting" during the campaign and controversially suggested imposing a type of religious test that would measure immigrants' views on Islamic Sharia law, among other things. These "extreme vetting" rules would seem to apply to immigrants coming from areas where "there is a proven history of terrorism" against the US and its allies.
Kobach endorsed Trump early in his presidential campaign and has said that Trump's idea to force Mexico to pay for a wall along the southern border of the US came from him.
He also authored some of the strictest immigration laws in the country. And NBC News noted that Kobach "helped write the book on creating a federal Muslim registry" in the US.
Also referenced in Kobach's document is the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, which Kobach helped create while he worked at the Justice Department under President George W. Bush. The program was established after the 9/11 terror attacks and required people from "high-risk" countries to undergo interrogations and fingerprinting.
A Sunday news release from Trump's transition team confirmed that Kobach met with Trump and vice president-elect Mike Pence over the weekend to "discuss border security, international terrorism, and reforming federal bureaucracy."
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