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.”
Roy Beck, the head of NumbersUSA, also expressed doubt over whether Kelly would pursue the deportation of illegal immigrants already in the U.S. saying that his singular focus is going to be "terrorism and national security” rather than the "economic part of immigration.”
Roy Beck, who leads the group NumbersUSA — a group that wants to reduce legal immigration as well as deport illegal immigrants — told The Hill he’s worried that Kelly will spend his time at the department focused exclusively on terrorism and neglect the issue of undocumented workers.
Beck wants Trump to install senior officials at the Department of Homeland Security, ideally Kobach, who will push for more raids and thorough audits of workplaces to boot out undocumented workers.
“[Kelly’s] interest is going to be terrorism and national security,” Beck said. “That’s where his experience is.”
“He will deal with immigration as it relates to terrorism, but in terms of the economic part of immigration,” Beck says he’s “very nervous about it.”
Still others, including the ever skeptical New York Magazine, view Kelly simply as a "Trojan Horse" who has a better chance at Senate Confirmation for the top DHS position but will then use that role to appoint an immigration hard-liner, like Kobach, to the Deputy Secretary position.
Perhaps most important, Kelly is not Kris Kobach, the fiery crusader against immigration “amnesty,” alleged voter fraud, and nefarious Muslim plots to rob Americans of their priceless heritage of freedom. The name of the Kansas secretary of State, who is a big-time national celebrity among hard-core conservatives, had often been mentioned in connection with the DHS gig.
But before anyone starts celebrating over Kobach’s continued confinement in Topeka, it might be wise to pay attention to some intel the Washington Examiner provided earlier this week:
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and retired Marine Gen. John Kelly are likely to be tapped for secretary and deputy secretary of homeland security, according to a top transition official familiar with the president-elect’s current thinking, but the source would not reveal which of the two men is favored for the top post and which is likely to be deputy secretary.
If that is correct, it is entirely possible Team Trump decided to make the less controversial Kelly — who faces a much easier Senate confirmation — the figurehead at the top of DHS, while installing Kobach as his deputy with special responsibilities for immigration and anti-terrorism policy. And there is also the option of placing Kobach at the Justice Department with authority over enforcement of immigration and voting laws. Crediting the upcoming administration with a “moderate” cabinet appointment might be accurate but also misleading.
Should make for yet another fun Senate confirmation hearing...we can't wait for the endless, mind-numbing questions.