Former Kansas Secretary of State and loser of the state's 2018 gubernatorial race Kris Kobach made some unsettling comments regarding asylum seekers in an appearance on Fox Business. The comments were made all the more eery now that President Donald Trump—whom Kobach strongly supports—is being considered for a position as Immigration Czar.
Many in Trump's camp have falsely equated seeking asylum in the United States with illegal immigration (seeking asylum is legal), and have since mobilized against them.
It appears Kobach is more than willing to continue that pattern. Kobach said to Fox host Lou Dobbs that instead of selling empty government-owned mobile homes, the United States should
"deploy them to border cities and create processing towns that are confined, and so when someone comes in and falsely claims asylum, we don't release them for six months onto the streets of the United States. We process them right there in that camp...and then as soon as they're done, as soon as their claim is rejected, they're on the next plane back home."
Watch below:
Here's Kris Kobach proposing putting asylum seekers in "processing towns that are confined" .... a "camp" https://t.co/uyRQr8DRMv— Andrew Lawrence (@Andrew Lawrence) 1554247441.0
Kobach's endorsement of confined 'processing towns' and reference to them as camps, struck a familiar, disturbing chord.
@ndrew_lawrence I've heard that idea somewhere before in history....— Sue Koehlinger (@Sue Koehlinger) 1554314936.0
@ndrew_lawrence Confined processing towns where large numbers of asylum seekers are kept in mobile homes... almost… https://t.co/plsz04PYVN— C Biscuit (@C Biscuit) 1554317210.0
@ndrew_lawrence It’s like they’ve never opened a history text book or have ever heard of concentration camps.— Joe Milne (@Joe Milne) 1554326034.0
@ndrew_lawrence @jsheehy Huh, concentrating people in a camp..— (((Splanchnick))) (@(((Splanchnick)))) 1554304020.0
People were disgusted at Kobach's suggestion.
@ndrew_lawrence Remind me why we can’t compare these people to Nazis?— MC (@MC) 1554313632.0
@ndrew_lawrence He’s evil... Kansas knew that— victoria bieber (@victoria bieber) 1554265482.0
@ndrew_lawrence The prospect of him "running" immigration is utterly terrifying.— Tejanarusa (@Tejanarusa) 1554273792.0
@ndrew_lawrence Sick sick puppy!— thur (@thur) 1554314954.0
Trump's consideration of Kobach for Immigration Czar is, while unsettling, congruent with the pattern the Trump administration has treated immigrants—documented and otherwise.