Trump surrogates are already citing Japanese internment camps from WW II as “precedent” for Muslim registry pic.twitter.com/DVnjtom0mc
— Brendan Karet (@bad_takes) November 17, 2016
A Donald Trump supporter cited the United States’ use of Japanese internment camps during World War II as precedent for implementing a registry of Muslim immigrants in an interview on Fox News Wednesday.
President-elect Trump first suggested creating a registry for Muslims in November 2015, and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach told Reuters on Tuesday that Trump’s immigration advisers were drafting a proposal on how this could be implemented.
Carl Higbie, a former Navy Seal and vocal Trump supporter, told Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly that he thinks such a proposal could pass legal muster, citing the internment camps as precedent.
“You can’t be citing Japanese internment camps for anything the president-elect is going to do!” Kelly replied.
“Look, the president needs to protect America first,” insisted Higbie, “and if that means having people that are not protected under the Constitution have some sort of registry until we can identify the true threat and where it’s coming from, I support it.”
“You get the protections once you come here,” Kelly said.
Watch the full remarks above.