Kris Kobach, who heads the Trump transition team’s immigration policy work, revealed the administration’s plans when he was photographed meeting with President-elect Donald Trump. Kobach had the secret document facing outward and when the photo was blown up reporters were able to read it.
According to the Topeka Journal:
The document is arranged in a numbered format. The first point reads, “Bar the Entry of Potential Terrorists.”
The document calls for updating and reintroducing the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System. The program was implemented in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but largely suspended in 2011.
“All aliens from high-risk areas are tracked,” the document reads.
The document mirrors what Kobach told Reuters in the days after the election. In an interview with the news service, he said an immigration policy group might recommend reinstating the NSEERS system, which would act as a registry of immigrants.
Kobach was one of the original architects of the system, which was implemented under Attorney General John Ashcroft and President George W. Bush.
The document then calls for “extreme vetting questions” for “high-risk aliens,” echoing Trump’s campaign rhetoric. High-risk aliens would be questioned about support for Sharia law (Islamic religious law), jihad, the equality of men and women, and the U.S. Constitution.
The document also asks for reducing the intake of Syrian refugees to zero.
The document contains obscured references to the arrest and removal of illegal aliens, “386 miles of existing actual wall,” the post-Sept. 11 PATRIOT Act, and voter rolls. “Draft amendments to National Voter —” can also be seen, perhaps a reference to the National Voter Registration Act.
The rest of the page is either partially or totally obscured by Kobach’s hand and arm. When the photograph was taken, Kobach was standing outside with Trump — it is highly unlikely Kobach wasn’t aware he was being photographed.
Kobach is being considered for Secretery of the Department of Homeland Security, although he seems to have problems keeping his own documents secure.
