An architect of anti-immigration efforts who says he is advising President-elect Donald Trump said the new administration could push ahead rapidly on construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall without seeking immediate congressional approval.
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who helped write tough immigration laws in Arizona and elsewhere, said in an interview that Trump's policy advisers had also discussed drafting a proposal for his consideration to reinstate a registry for immigrants from Muslim countries.
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.
Kobach told Reuters last Friday that the immigration group had discussed drafting executive orders for the president-elect's review "so that Trump and the Department of Homeland Security hit the ground running."
To implement Trump's call for "extreme vetting" of some Muslim immigrants, Kobach said the immigration policy group could recommend the reinstatement of a national registry of immigrants and visitors who enter the United States on visas from countries where extremist organizations are active.
Kobach helped design the program, known as the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, while serving in Republican President George W. Bush's Department of Justice after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States by al Qaeda militants.
Under NSEERS, people from countries deemed "higher risk" were required to undergo interrogations and fingerprinting on entering the United States. Some non-citizen male U.S. residents over the age of 16 from countries with active militant threats were required to register in person at government offices and periodically check in.
NSEERS was abandoned in 2011 after it was deemed redundant by the Department of Homeland Security and criticized by civil rights groups for unfairly targeting immigrants from Muslim- majority nations.
Kobach said the immigration advisers were also looking at how the Homeland Security Department could move rapidly on border wall construction without approval from Congress by reappropriating existing funds in the current budget. He acknowledged "that future fiscal years will require additional appropriations."
Congress, which is controlled by Trump's fellow Republicans, could object to redirecting DHS funds designated for other purposes.
Helped draft tough Arizona law
Kobach has worked with allies across the United States on drafting laws and pursuing legal actions to crack down on illegal immigration.
In 2010, he helped draft an Arizona law that required state and local officials to check the immigration status of individuals stopped by police. Parts of the law, which was fiercely opposed by Hispanic and civil rights groups, were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2011.
Kobach was also the architect of a 2013 Kansas law requiring voters to provide proof-of-citizenship documents, such as birth certificates or U.S. passports, when registering for the first time. A U.S. appeals court blocked that law after challenges from civil rights groups.
Kobach said in the interview he believed that illegal immigrants in some cases should be deported before a conviction if they have been charged with a violent crime. Trump said in an interview on CBS' "60 Minutes" that aired on Sunday that once he took office, he would remove immigrants with criminal records who are in the country illegally.
Kobach said the immigration group had also discussed ways of overturning President Barack Obama's 2012 executive action that has granted temporary deportation relief and work permits to more than 700,000 undocumented people or "dreamers" who came to the United States as children of illegal immigrants.
Reuters
Wed Nov 16 2016
Kobach talks about the Kansas voter ID law that he pushed to combat what he believes to be rampant voter fraud in the United States in his Topeka, Kansas office in the US on May 12, 2016. - Reuters
Warga emas terselamat jatuh dari tingkat 16
Seorang warga emas terselamat selepas terjatuh dari tingkat 16 kediamannya di Azelia Residence PJU 9, Damansara Damai dekat sini pada Isnin.
Rombakan PKR: 'Tiada konflik dalaman' - Nik Nazmi
Keputusan PKR merombak Majlis Pimpinan Negeri (MPN) di tujuh negeri melibatkan Sarawak, Sabah, Pahang, Johor, Terengganu, Kelantan dan Wilayah Persekutuan bukan berpunca daripada konflik dalaman.
Kod Etika Kewartawanan bukan dipaksa oleh penguasa atau kerajaan - PM
Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim berkata, Kod Etika Kewartawanan bukan menetapkan sesuatu yang dipaksa oleh penguasa atau kerajaan, tetapi kod untuk mengangkat martabat dan harakat bangsa.
'Tak hilang diri... jika semua selesai hari ini, esok saya nikah' - Mohd Azlan
Mohd Azlan Ishak, 36, menjelaskan dia tidak menghilangkan diri sebaliknya sedang menguruskan urusan pernikahan dalam tempoh beberapa hari ini.
SPRM belum terima notis isytihar harta dua anak Tun M
Azam berkata, pihaknya ada berbincang dengan peguam kepada Mirzan Mahathir dan Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir mengenai tempoh pengisytiharan.
Liga Super: Selangor FC kekal harga tiket, sasar stadium penuh
SELANGOR FC akan terus mengekalkan harga tiket untuk aksi Liga Super 2024/2025 di Stadium Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya (MBPJ).
Ahli Kongres AS gesa Netanyahu hentikan serangan
Ahli Kongres Amerika Syarikat, Ro Khanna menggesa agar Perdana Menteri Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu menamatkan serangan ke atas Rafah.
Raih semua 'A' dalam SPM, Shila Amzah ucap tahniah kepada adik ipar
472355
[TERKINI] Polis perlu lebih masa siasat 5 ahli keluarga penyerang balai polis
PDRM memerlukan lebih masa untuk menyiasat dengan teliti lima ahli keluarga suspek serangan Balai Polis Ulu Tiram.
Berdosa ‘troll’ guna ayat al-Quran walaupun atas tujuan hiburan
Terdapat segelintir individu tanpa segan silu melakukan hasut maya (troll) menggunakan bait-bait suci ayat al-Quran di media sosial.
Pilihan raya AS: Biden, Trump setuju dengan dua Debat Presiden
Joe Biden dan Donald Trump setuju mengadakan dua Debat Presiden pada Jun dan September ini sebagai sebahagian daripada kempen pilihan raya.
Hakim tangguh perbicaraan dokumen sulit Trump
Perbicaraan berkemungkinan tidak akan bermula sebelum pilihan raya presiden AS pada November.
Biden rancang untuk berdebat dengan Trump
Sebelum ini, Biden tidak komited untuk berdebat dengan lawannya, Trump.
Lelaki bertindak bakar diri di luar mahkamah New York
Max Azzarello yang berasal dari St. Augustine, Florida, dilaporkan telah diselamatkan dan berada dalam keadaan kritikal.
7 juri dipilih dalam bicara kes wang sogok yang dihadapi Trump
Tujuh juri dipilih dalam perbicaraan kes wang sogok Donald Trump di New York, perbicaraan jenayah pertama terhadap bekas presiden Amerika Syarikat.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Perbicaraan skandal Donald Trump - bintang porno bermula
Donald Trump menjadi bekas Presiden Amerika Syarikat pertama yang menghadapi perbicaraan kes jenayah.
Bicara kes bayaran tutup mulut yang dihadapi Trump bermula dengan pemilihan juri
Donald Trump akan menjadi bekas presiden pertama dalam sejarah Amerika Syarikat (AS) yang dibicarakan atas tuduhan jenayah.
Trump gagal tangguh, perbicaraan tetap berlangsung 15 April ini
Ini merupakan kali pertama bekas Presiden AS dibicarakan melibatkan bayaran menutup mulut kepada seorang bintang filem lucah.
Biden menang pemilihan peringkat awal di Dakota Utara
Dalam pemilihan peringkat awal di Dakota Utara, terdapat 13 perwakilan ditawarkan dan kebanyakan pengundian dilakukan melalui undi pos.