Trump planning Muslim registry

a key member of Donald trump’s transition team has said that the nascent trump administration is already weighing a plan to launch a registry for immigrants and visitors from muslim countries.

Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach, who is considered one of trump’s top advisers and also a possible candidate for attorney general, told Reuters that the president-elect’s advisers have discussed preparing a policy proposal for a registry.

a spokesperson for Kobach did not respond to a request for further details.

trump said a year ago that he would support the creation of a database to register muslims, telling NBC News that he “would certainly implement that — absolutely.”

Kobach helped design a similar program after the 9/11 terrorist attacks while serving under former president george W. Bush, Reuters reported.

that program, known as the National security entryexit Registration system, required people from countries deemed “higher risk” to undergo interrogations and fingerprinting upon arrival. some men were also expected to follow a parole-like system by periodically checking in with local authorities. the program, which civil rights groups said targeted muslims, was dissolved in 2011.

Colin Christopher, the deputy head of government affairs at Dar al-Hijrah, a large mosque in Virginia, described the concept of a registry as “immoral and unamerican.”

Bill De Blasio, the Democratic mayor of New york, warned trump against hardline immigration policies that would sow mistrust. He said he had reminded trump that New york police had 900 muslim employees, and also called on the presidentelect not to enact immigration policies that would see families “torn apart.”