As he threatens to shut down the southern border, US President Donald Trump is considering bringing on a “border” or “immigration czar” to coordinate immigration policy across various federal agencies, four people familiar with the discussions said.
Trump is weighing at least two potential candidates for the post: former Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach and former Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the conversations publicly.
Cuccinelli was seen at the White House on Monday.
Photo: AFP
Kobach, an immigration hardliner, ran a failed bid for governor promising to drive immigrants living in the US illegally out of the country.
He has been working for a nonprofit corporation, WeBuildtheWall Inc, which has been raising private money to build Trump’s wall.
Cuccinelli has advocated for denying citizenship to US-born children of parents living in the US illegally; limiting in-state tuition at public universities only to those who are citizens or legal resident;, and allowing workers to file lawsuits when an employer knowingly hires someone living in the country illegally for taking a job from a “law-abiding competitor.”
Thomas Homan, the former acting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement director, has also been mentioned as a potential pick, according to one of the people familiar with the talks.
The planning comes as Trump is threatening anew to close the US-Mexico border as soon as this week if Mexico does not completely halt illegal immigration into the US.
It also serves as the latest sign that Trump plans to continue to hammer his hardline immigration rhetoric and policies as he moves past the special counsel’s Russia investigation and works to rally his base heading into his re-election campaign next year.
Aides hope the potential appointment, which they caution is still in the planning stages, would serve as the “face” of the administration on immigration issues and would placate both the president and his supporters, showing he is serious and taking action.
White House press aides, Kobach and Cuccinelli did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Kobach previously served as vice chair of the president’s short-lived election fraud commission, which was disbanded after finding little evidence of widespread abuse.
A US Department of Homeland Security official said that White House czars have been appointed in the past when there has been an “urgent need” for sustained, interagency policy coordination.
While homeland security often plays a leading role when it comes to immigration policy and enforcement, the department is not in charge of officials at the departments of health and human services, state, defense and justice, which often play key roles.
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