A possible Trump cabinet pick accidentally revealed his horrifying immigration strategy

By Katherine Krueger | November 21, 2016 | 8:29pm

Latest

While on his way into a Sunday meeting with President-elect Donald Trump, a man who’s promised to bring together “the best and most serious people” to run his administration, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach was holding what looks a like like his diabolical job pitch for Trump.

The document, which was first flagged by a Topeka Capital-Journal reporter, is titled, “Department of Homeland Security: Kobach Strategic Plan for First 365 Days.”

Most Popular

When you enhance that image, which was taken by an Associated Press photographer, you can glimpse a sinister blueprint of Kobach’s ideas for dealing with “Potential Terrorists” and “Criminal Aliens.”

Some of Kobach’s proposals have already been reported as he’s been increasingly involved in Trump’s transition team. He favors reinstating the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, the innocuous name for the George W. Bush-era program used to profile and track mostly Muslims traveling into the country.

But the document outlines one specific addition for the “extreme vetting” of “high-risk aliens,” asking them about “Sharia law, jihad, equality of men and women, the United States Constitution.” Zero refugees from Syria would be allowed to seek asylum in the country, the memo says.

“All aliens from high-risk areas are tracked,” the document reads.

While much of the rest of the page is obscured by Kobach’s hand, there are other clues about the far-right policies he’s pitching to our next president.

There are partially visible references to removing “criminal aliens” who are “arrested for any crime” (that’s arrested, not charged), ideas for using the Patriot Act, and references to the “rapid build” of nearly 2,000 miles of wall.

Near the bottom of the page are references to voter rolls, a democratic tool that Kobach enthusiastically purged of largely young, black, and Latinx voters in his home state.

Another detail that inspires only dread is a snippet likely about drafting amendments to the National Voter Registration Act, which was aimed at making voter registration more accessible to all Americans.

Trump’s cabinet appointments so far have been a horror show for anyone who isn’t a conservative, heterosexual white male. And while Kobach didn’t get the Attorney General spot–a rare honor bestowed on a guy who was once down with the Ku Klux Klan–it’s looking like he could do even more damage as head of Homeland Security.