Now that the election of Donald J. Trump is accomplished, the task of building a viable government has begun.
As the President-elect interviews a mind boggling list of potential cabinet members, we are learning more about his real plans for our country.
Some of the names are familiar, like Mitt Romney, who went from trashing Trump to kissing his ring in a few short weeks.
Others are relative unknowns, like Kris Kobach, the Republican Secretary of State of Kansas. This guy doesn’t exactly have national recognition, but he’s working to change that.
Kobach met with Mr. Trump this week to discuss a possible position in the new cabinet. Unlike everyone else who came out of the super secretive meetings with the new boss, Kobach failed to hide the paperwork he was given in the golden office. Instead, the wily Republican held the papers in his hand as he was photographed outside of the meeting place.
It seems that Mr. Kobach is being considered for the post of Head of Homeland Security.
This is very bad news for a freedom loving America.
NEW, via @jshormanCJ: Kobach took plan for Department of Homeland Security into Trump meeting #ksleg | https://t.co/bzAj784tQ3 pic.twitter.com/y6p3QTtLLa
— CJOnline (@CJOnline) November 21, 2016
According to the papers in Kobach’s hand, the top priority for the new Homeland Security office would be this:
1. 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.
2. 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.
During the administration of George W. Bush, Kobach served in the Justice Department. He was the one who came up with the NSEERS program. This program was designed to keep track of people coming into the country from foreign nations that were considered to be risky. The vast majority of the 25 countries named were Muslim countries.
In effect, NSEERS was a Muslim registry.
The idea was that men over 16 years of age from the named countries had to register with the U.S. government and give a set of fingerprints. Even men who were already here under approved visas had to register.
The Bush administration registered nearly 100,000 men under this program before it was ended in 2003.
What was the result?
Nothing. The program was a total and complete failure.
Not one person was identified as having ties to terrorism. Not ONE.
There were thousands of deportations, but most were completely routine actions taken for those who had outstayed a visa.
Michael German, who spent 16 years working for the FBI, recently said:
“Any kind of generalized search is ineffective when who you’re looking for are a very small number of people. NSEERS fails that task. It looks at tremendous numbers of people who are not suspected of any wrongdoing. So the likelihood of that type of system somehow tripping upon somebody who is otherwise unknown is pretty small.”
To make matters worse, the program only served to upset and marginalize the very communities that we need to identify dangerous activities.
So. In spite of the fact that registering people from Muslim countries is counterproductive at best and dangerous at worst, our President-elect is thinking of reinstating the program.
Trump was elected in part because he promised a total ban on Muslims. He wants to register Muslim Americans.
He is giving serious consideration to hiring a guy who has experience in doing exactly that.
Adolf Hitler must be laughing out loud from his place in hell.
Featured image by Ray Young via Flickr. Available through CC BY 2.0 license.
