It’s being reported now by the AP that Trump is considering appointing an Immigration Czar to make sure his immigration policies are properly implemented across different agencies in the Trump administration.
And he’s considering Kris Kobach and Ken Cuccinelli for the position.
Here’s more:
AP – The Trump administration is considering bringing on a “border” or “immigration czar” to coordinate the president’s immigration policies across various federal agencies, according to three people familiar with the discussions.
President Donald Trump is weighing two potential candidates for the post: Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli — two far-right conservatives with strong views on immigration, according to the people, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the conversations publicly.
The discussion comes as Trump is threatening to close the southern border as soon as this week if Mexico does not completely halt illegal immigration to the U.S.
It has yet to be decided whether the post would be housed within Homeland Security or within the White House, which would not require Senate confirmation. Appointing a person who is based within Homeland Security could be trickier because the department’s agency heads are all Senate-confirmed positions and, in the case of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, are longtime immigration officials with decades of experience dealing with the border.
The idea of appointing someone that the Senate can’t approve will more than likely drive Democrats nuts.
Clearly Trump wants more emphasis on his immigration policies, but I wonder if this could also be a way to appease people who think Nielsen is doing a poor job and want her out. Time will tell…