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| Trump Camp’s Talk of Registry and Japanese Internment Raises Muslim Fears | Trump Camp’s Talk of Registry and Japanese Internment Raises Muslim Fears |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A prominent supporter of Donald J. Trump set off concern and condemnation on behalf of Muslims on Wednesday after citing World War II-era Japanese-American internment camps as a “precedent” for an immigrant registry suggested by a member of the president-elect’s transition team. | A prominent supporter of Donald J. Trump set off concern and condemnation on behalf of Muslims on Wednesday after citing World War II-era Japanese-American internment camps as a “precedent” for an immigrant registry suggested by a member of the president-elect’s transition team. |
| The supporter, Carl Higbie, a former spokesman for Great America PAC, an independent fund-raising committee that backed Mr. Trump, made the comments in an appearance on “The Kelly File” on Fox News. | The supporter, Carl Higbie, a former spokesman for Great America PAC, an independent fund-raising committee that backed Mr. Trump, made the comments in an appearance on “The Kelly File” on Fox News. |
| He was referring to a suggestion by Kris Kobach, a member of Mr. Trump’s transition team, that the new administration could reinstate a national registry for immigrants from countries where terrorist groups were active. | He was referring to a suggestion by Kris Kobach, a member of Mr. Trump’s transition team, that the new administration could reinstate a national registry for immigrants from countries where terrorist groups were active. |
| “We’ve done it based on race, we’ve done it based on religion, we’ve done it based on region,” Mr. Higbie said in an appearance on “The Kelly File.” “We’ve done it with Iran back — back a while ago. We did it during World War II with Japanese.” | “We’ve done it based on race, we’ve done it based on religion, we’ve done it based on region,” Mr. Higbie said in an appearance on “The Kelly File.” “We’ve done it with Iran back — back a while ago. We did it during World War II with Japanese.” |
| “You’re not proposing that we go back to the days of internment camps, I hope,” said Megyn Kelly, the host of the show. | “You’re not proposing that we go back to the days of internment camps, I hope,” said Megyn Kelly, the host of the show. |
| Mr. Higbie, a former Navy SEAL who served two tours in Iraq, denied that, but said, “We need to protect America first.” | Mr. Higbie, a former Navy SEAL who served two tours in Iraq, denied that, but said, “We need to protect America first.” |
| He stood by his comments in a phone interview on Thursday morning, saying that he had been alluding to the fact that the Supreme Court had “upheld things as horrific as Japanese internment camps.” | He stood by his comments in a phone interview on Thursday morning, saying that he had been alluding to the fact that the Supreme Court had “upheld things as horrific as Japanese internment camps.” |
| “There is historical, factual precedent to do things are not politically popular and sometimes not right, in the interest of national security,” he said, adding that he “fundamentally” disagreed with “the internment camp mantra and doing it at all.” | “There is historical, factual precedent to do things are not politically popular and sometimes not right, in the interest of national security,” he said, adding that he “fundamentally” disagreed with “the internment camp mantra and doing it at all.” |
| He clarified that he was not a constiutional lawyer and was working from a layman’s understanding of the law, and the 1944 Supreme Court ruling that the order for internment camps was constitutional. | He clarified that he was not a constiutional lawyer and was working from a layman’s understanding of the law, and the 1944 Supreme Court ruling that the order for internment camps was constitutional. |
| And he said that while he hopes to be involved in the Trump administration, that he has had no “formal conversations” with the president-elect’s team. | And he said that while he hopes to be involved in the Trump administration, that he has had no “formal conversations” with the president-elect’s team. |
| Mr. Higbie’s comments were met with furious criticism by civil rights activists, Muslim organizations and politicians. | Mr. Higbie’s comments were met with furious criticism by civil rights activists, Muslim organizations and politicians. |
| Representative Mark Takano, a Japanese-American congressman from California whose parents and grandparents were imprisoned during World War II, said in a statement Thursday that “these comments confirm many Americans’ worst fears about the Trump administration” and that they reflected “an alarming resurgence of racism and xenophobia in our political discourse.” | Representative Mark Takano, a Japanese-American congressman from California whose parents and grandparents were imprisoned during World War II, said in a statement Thursday that “these comments confirm many Americans’ worst fears about the Trump administration” and that they reflected “an alarming resurgence of racism and xenophobia in our political discourse.” |
| Mr. Takano, a Democrat, called on Mr. Trump to “immediately denounce” Mr. Higbie’s comments. | Mr. Takano, a Democrat, called on Mr. Trump to “immediately denounce” Mr. Higbie’s comments. |
| On Thursday morning, neither a spokeswoman for Mr. Kobach nor a spokeswoman for Mr. Trump replied to requests for comment. | |
| A spokesman for the Great America PAC said Mr. Higbie had stopped working for the fund-raising group on the day after the election. | |
| Robert S. McCaw, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights group, called the suggestion that Japanese-American internment camps were any kind of precedent “absolutely deplorable” and said that it would “would return America to one of the darkest chapters of its history.” | Robert S. McCaw, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights group, called the suggestion that Japanese-American internment camps were any kind of precedent “absolutely deplorable” and said that it would “would return America to one of the darkest chapters of its history.” |
| “The U.S. congress itself had apologized for the Japanese internment,” Mr. McCaw said, referring to the Civil Liberties Act, which formally apologized for Japanese internment during the war and was signed into law by President Reagan. | “The U.S. congress itself had apologized for the Japanese internment,” Mr. McCaw said, referring to the Civil Liberties Act, which formally apologized for Japanese internment during the war and was signed into law by President Reagan. |
| “I can’t see how it would now be right to do the same thing to Muslims,” Mr. McCaw added. | “I can’t see how it would now be right to do the same thing to Muslims,” Mr. McCaw added. |
| Mr. Kobach, who is Kansas’ secretary of state, was referring to the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, which he helped create while working at the Department of Justice. The program was first proposed in 2002 and significant portions of it suspended nine years later in 2011. | Mr. Kobach, who is Kansas’ secretary of state, was referring to the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, which he helped create while working at the Department of Justice. The program was first proposed in 2002 and significant portions of it suspended nine years later in 2011. |
| The policy came under heavy criticism while it was in effect and afterward. In a 2012 report, the Center for Immigrants’ Rights at the Pennsylvania State University’s law school called it a “tool that allowed the government to systematically target Arabs, Middle Easterners, Muslims, and South Asians” and a “clear example of discriminatory and arbitrary racial profiling.” | The policy came under heavy criticism while it was in effect and afterward. In a 2012 report, the Center for Immigrants’ Rights at the Pennsylvania State University’s law school called it a “tool that allowed the government to systematically target Arabs, Middle Easterners, Muslims, and South Asians” and a “clear example of discriminatory and arbitrary racial profiling.” |
| Though a reinstatement of that program would not be as broad or sweeping as the database of Muslim residents that Mr. Trump said during the Republican primaries that he would “certainly implement,” it set off a wave of criticism among many for whom it brought about the prospect of a wave of religious discrimination that could be an omen of worse to come. | Though a reinstatement of that program would not be as broad or sweeping as the database of Muslim residents that Mr. Trump said during the Republican primaries that he would “certainly implement,” it set off a wave of criticism among many for whom it brought about the prospect of a wave of religious discrimination that could be an omen of worse to come. |
| While working under John Ashcroft at the Department of Justice, Mr. Kobach, whose education at Harvard, Oxford and Yale and experience in government could make him an unusual fit for the administration of an outsider presidential candidate, created and implemented the system that he hopes to reinstate. | While working under John Ashcroft at the Department of Justice, Mr. Kobach, whose education at Harvard, Oxford and Yale and experience in government could make him an unusual fit for the administration of an outsider presidential candidate, created and implemented the system that he hopes to reinstate. |
| “Within its first year of operation, the registration system resulted in the apprehension of numerous suspected terrorists,” according to his Kansas government biography. | “Within its first year of operation, the registration system resulted in the apprehension of numerous suspected terrorists,” according to his Kansas government biography. |
| Many non-immigrants and non-Muslims have reacted to Mr. Kobach’s comments on Friday by saying that they will simply “register as Muslim.” The official Twitter account of the Anti-Defamation League posted a statement from its chief executive, Jonathan Greenblatt, saying that “if one day Muslims will be forced to register, that is the day that this proud Jew will register as a Muslim.” | Many non-immigrants and non-Muslims have reacted to Mr. Kobach’s comments on Friday by saying that they will simply “register as Muslim.” The official Twitter account of the Anti-Defamation League posted a statement from its chief executive, Jonathan Greenblatt, saying that “if one day Muslims will be forced to register, that is the day that this proud Jew will register as a Muslim.” |
| But such statements have been met with skepticism. A blogger at the liberal website Daily Kos wrote, “Everyone’s talking about how they will ‘register as Muslim’ as if that is how it is going to go down. Sorry, but you won’t have the chance.” The blogger instead urged letter-writing, phone calls and other traditional political activism. | But such statements have been met with skepticism. A blogger at the liberal website Daily Kos wrote, “Everyone’s talking about how they will ‘register as Muslim’ as if that is how it is going to go down. Sorry, but you won’t have the chance.” The blogger instead urged letter-writing, phone calls and other traditional political activism. |
| Some groups have already been forming. On Monday, the Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council announced it has been established by the American Jewish Committee and the Islamic Society of North America. | Some groups have already been forming. On Monday, the Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council announced it has been established by the American Jewish Committee and the Islamic Society of North America. |
| It includes former Senator Joseph Lieberman and Suhail Khan, the director of external affairs at Microsoft and a former member of the Bush administration. Part of the council’s mission, it said, will be to “develop a coordinated strategy to address anti-Muslim bigotry and anti-Semitism in the U.S.” and to “work to protect and expand the rights of religious minorities.” | It includes former Senator Joseph Lieberman and Suhail Khan, the director of external affairs at Microsoft and a former member of the Bush administration. Part of the council’s mission, it said, will be to “develop a coordinated strategy to address anti-Muslim bigotry and anti-Semitism in the U.S.” and to “work to protect and expand the rights of religious minorities.” |
| Mr. McCaw, the spokesman for CAIR, said that the ideas advanced by Mr. Higbie and Mr. Kobach might seem to be different in degree, but the two ideas — a database of names and internment camps based on religious or ethnic heritage — were inexorably linked. | Mr. McCaw, the spokesman for CAIR, said that the ideas advanced by Mr. Higbie and Mr. Kobach might seem to be different in degree, but the two ideas — a database of names and internment camps based on religious or ethnic heritage — were inexorably linked. |
| “I really do feel as though the prospect of internment is always tied to registries of people,” he said. | “I really do feel as though the prospect of internment is always tied to registries of people,” he said. |