Immigration Hard-Liners Question Trump’s Homeland Security Pick
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Dec 8, 2016
Immigration hard-liners had been routing for Trump to appoint Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach as head of the Department of Homeland Security. Kobach was generally viewed as the candidate most likely to draw the hardest line on illegal immigration after helping to draft one of the toughest pieces of immigration law in the country, Arizona’s SB 1070, which requires law enforcement officers to demand to see the immigration papers of anyone they suspected of being in the country illegally.
By choosing Marine General John Kelly, immigration experts fear that the Trump administration will focus more on border security, as it relates to terrorist threats, but will not emphasize the deportation of the millions of illegal citizens already in the country.
Before retiring last winter, Kelly served as the head of U.S. Southern Command, where, among other things, he oversaw Guantánamo Bay. According to The Hill, Kelly built a reputation as a blunt critic of the Obama administration and was often accused to taking actions intended to obstruct the administration’s efforts to close Guantánamo. John Kelly’s son, Robert, was killed in combat in Afghanistan.
While Trump supporters have no doubt that a Kelly-run Homeland Security Department will be tough on terrorism and border security they’re a bit skeptical on immigration-specific policies.
Conservative immigration groups remain wary of Kelly — something that could end up helping him in a Senate confirmation battle if it causes lawmakers to see him as a moderate.
Hard-liners praise Kelly for his military expertise and trust he’ll build a powerful barrier along the southern border. But they worry he won’t crack down hard enough on undocumented workers.
“He’s clearly committed to protecting the physical security of Americans; we still don’t know how committed he’ll be to protecting their economic security,” Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, said in an email.
Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, echoed Krikorian’s points. He described Kelly as a “great pick” for dealing with border management and national security threats.
“But he will need to backfill his team with several strong immigration policy experts,” he added. “And he’ll need to show he can stand up to emotion or financially driven special interests that want to roll back the Trump immigration platform.”
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