Trump Allies Warn There Will Be No Compromise On Immigration
The Hill: Trump Allies Warn There Will Be No Compromise on Immigration
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
By: Joe Crowe
Conservative leaders are saying President-elect Donald Trump will be held to his campaign promises about immigration policy, according to The Hill.
"This was, along with trade, the issue that allowed Donald Trump to mow down 16 other viable and talented and capable contenders in the primary process," Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, told The Hill.
"Nobody can bring out, in rally after rally, Americans who lost loved ones because these immigration laws were not enforced … or Americans who lost jobs because of unfair labor displacement," and not follow through on his promises, he added.
According to The Hill, organizations like FAIR, NumbersUSA and the Center for Immigration Studies, are calling on Trump to reject Rep. Michael McCaul as a candidate for Homeland Security secretary because they believe he would be too close to the Republican establishment to go along with their ideas for immigration reform.
Stein and Mark Krikorian, executive director of the CIS, say McCaul has supported "weak" immigration proposals.
Krikorian said those who support immigrants, the "anti-borders activists," have grown stronger under President Barack Obama's administration and the Homeland Security chief must push back.
"There are going to be human chains around (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement) offices. It's going to be that kind of violent opposition. And I hope whoever is DHS secretary won't go wobbly," he said.
McCaul, a Texas Republican, is close with House Speaker Paul Ryan, The Hill notes, and one source close to Sen. Jeff Sessions, Trump's attorney general nominee said, "You could choose an establishment person for any position but that one."
Trump supporters believe Ryan, Vice President-elect Mike Pence and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, who are seen as allies politically, could exert too much influence over Trump on immigration issues.
McCaul's spokeswoman Lizzie Litzow told The Hill he "stands staunchly against any form of amnesty" and he also wants to cut off funding to sanctuary cities.
Trump's allies want Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach to lead Homeland Security because of his hard-line stance on immigration. Supporters say Kobach would work to limit legal as well as illegal immigration.
Some churches across the U.S. said they would, if necessary, become sanctuaries for illegal immigrants, according to The Daily Beast.
California lawmakers are looking ahead to Trump's potential deportation plans, introducing measures to protect undocumented immigrants, Fortune reported.
http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/Trum.../06/id/762433/
Gen. John Kelly seen as leading contender for DHS
Gen. John Kelly seen as leading contender for DHS
By Eliana Johnson
12/05/16 03:47 PM EST
Retired Marine General John Kelly has emerged as the top contender to lead President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security, according to three sources close to the transition.
Kelly, 66, whose military career spanned more than four decades, retired earlier this year as the chief of U.S. Southern Command. In that post, where he oversaw military operations in most of Central and South America, he publicly clashed with the Obama administration on its plans – which were never executed – to close Guantanamo Bay and dismissed as “foolishness” concerns that the military’s treatment of detainees at the facility had cost the U.S. the moral high ground in the War on Terror.
At the Department of Homeland Security, a massive bureaucracy created in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Kelly would become a key player in Trump's plans to secure the border and crack down on illegal immigration. The president-elect campaigned on a plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and to swiftly deport undocumented immigrants guilty of crimes.
His addition to the Trump administration would likely have implications on candidates for remaining cabinet posts. If formally offered the position, Kelly would be the third general tapped by the president-elect, in addition to Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who will serve as Trump’s national security adviser, and retired Gen. James Mattis, who Trump said Thursday he intended to nominate as his Defense Secretary. Concerns about the number of military officials in Trump’s cabinet may harm the prospects of another military man, retired Gen. David Petraeus, whom Trump is considering for secretary of state.
A Trump transition spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
During the campaign between Trump and Hillary Clinton, Kelly said he'd be willing to serve in either administration. But unlike other notable high-ranking former military officials like Flynn and Gen. John Allen, the retired four star general never endorsed a candidate. Whoever won, Kelly said, shouldn't doubt they're “getting anything but the absolute best military advice, completely devoid of politics.”
“It adds to this mistrust issue...if suddenly a guy retires and says, ‘I think this administration is doing all the wrong things for all the wrong reasons,’” Kelly told Foreign Policy about endorsing a candidate.
Kelly’s son 2nd Lt. Robert M. Kelly died in 2010 when he stepped on a landmine on a tour of duty in southern Afghanistan, and Kelly remains one of the most senior U.S. military officers to lose a son or daughter in Iraq or Afghanistan. He has also opposed the Obama administration’s decision to open combat roles to women.
Kelly enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1970 and was discharged two years later. He was then commissioned as an officer in 1976. He served multiple tours of duty in Iraq and was a military aide to both Defense Secretaries Robert Gates and Leon Panetta.
Jennifer Scholtes contributed to this report.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/donald...y-trump-232210