Trump's DHS pick could be a 'force for moderation'

He told Congress during the primaries that illegal immigration from Mexico was tapering off. He's fretted about "the terrible things" that happen to thousands of undocumented immigrant children on their journey — "particularly the young ladies on the way up." And he calls drug-related violence a far greater threat to Americans than Islamic terrorists.

Retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, Donald Trump's pick to head the Department of Homeland Security, has struck a decidedly measured tone on some of the issues that helped propel the president-elect to victory.

And that's why Democrats and even some Republicans are counting on him to be a check on the new administration's most radical proposals to secure the border, remove undocumented immigrants from so-called sanctuary cities or profile Muslims. They also hope he will rein in the hardliners they fear Trump may tap to head Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and the other law enforcement agencies that make of the vast department of 300,000 employees.

"I think he will stop some of the more dangerous inclinations of an ideological White House," said Juliette Kayyem, a former DHS official who advised Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and serves on a department advisory board with Kelly. "He appears to understand that the border is more than a wall. He understands the lifeline that is the U.S.-Mexico border for commercial activity."

At first glance, Kelly’s background appears well-suited to carry out Trump’s pledges crack down on illegal immigration and take on the domestic threat of Islamic terrorism. In his last military post, as head of U.S. Southern Command, he tracked smuggling routes in Central and South America and was the chief jailer for some of the world’s most hardened terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which he supported keeping open indefinitely. The retired Marine also lost a son in the war in Afghanistan in 2010, a personal tragedy that some who know him say could have hardened his views on Muslim extremists.

But a review of Kelly's public record indicates his views are far from radical. He’s also not entirely on-message with Trump confidants like retired Gen. Michael Flynn — Trump's pick for national security adviser, who has called Islam a "cancer" — or Sen. Jeff Sessions, his choice for attorney general, who is among the most hardline members of Congress on illegal immigration.

While Trump has described the throngs of Mexicans and others illegally entering the U.S. as “rapists” and criminals, Kelly points out that tens of thousands of them are children who often fall victim to crimes along the way.

Trump has said he wants to build a wall to keep Mexicans out, but Kelly said at a 2014 forum that the flow of immigrants had slowed on its own. “There are jobs in Mexico so we don't see as many movement — or as much movement," Kelly said at the time.

Some Trump critics have whispered that the loss of his son in Afghanistan has hardened Kelly's views on how to confront Islamic terrorism. And some officials inside the department privately express concern that the new leadership will rename programs to engage Muslim communities, now labeled "countering violent extremism," as "countering radical Islam."

"That could destroy relationships it took so hard to build with communities," said a senior DHS official who was not authorized to speak publicly. "That is the kind of thing that really makes people unsettled."

But Kelly's former boss Chuck Hagel, who was secretary of Defense from 2013 to 2015, dismisses the notion that his personal loss changed his views.

"That is about as devastating an experience that anyone could have," Hagel said in an interview. "It has to factor in to your thinking and your judgment. But he is very disciplined. I don't think he would let the trauma of his personal loss get in the way of his professional judgment."

Indeed, an adviser of Kelly's who was not authorized to speak on the record said that "the death of son didn't change his views about Islam."

Kelly has warned repeatedly about the potential for Islamic terrorists to take advantage of the porous Southern border. But he has said the bigger danger is illegal drugs.

One particularly controversial circumstance where Kelly might resist the more zealous actions of the Trump team is on sanctuary cities, the official predicted. Trump has pledged to remove illegal immigrants from locales that have adopted policies not to prosecute undocumented residents simply for their immigration status. Some 40 cities reiterated this week that they will risk federal funds rather than change their policies.

Kelly "might be a force for moderation in those areas. He might help push back on the worst impulses of what at least candidate Trump and his people have said," said the official.

Others who have watched Kelly up close also do not consider him ideological.

"He doesn't seem very extreme one way or the other," said Jim Jones, a former Democratic congressman from Oklahoma and ambassador to Mexico.

But the biggest question, say current and former DHS officials, is whom Trump will choose to run some of the key law enforcement agencies that would fall under Kelly's authority — and would have to carry out deportations.

"Who the transition committee selects to head those other agencies is almost as important as Gen. Kelly himself," said Tom Ridge, who served as the first secretary of Homeland Security when the post was established in 2002. "It will be interesting to see if the transition team brings people up from within to run those agencies or brings new people in."

Jones, who also served as chief of staff to President Lyndon Johnson, agreed that the so-called operational agencies that fall under DHS "are the ones that will recommend policy to the secretary."

"That's where the crazy sheriffs' names are starting to pop in," warned the DHS official, referring to some of the harshest critics of immigration policy that Trump has surrounded himself with.

Kayyem, the former DHS official, similarly predicted that whoever heads ICE and CBP will go a long way in determining how radically U.S. government policies on counterterrorism and immigration will change — and how much pressure Kelly will face.

"Those two jobs, should they have an ideological inflection — which we assume those persons with have — will have a huge impact on people's lives," she said.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/1...n-kelly-232718

Forget giant 40 feet walls and expect Bush Era ICE Raids

More like Obama era ICE raids. Obama is a master deporter and Trump will carry out the same exact thing. Expect a very big uptick in these, mainly geared towards those with records and already in deportation proceedings. Everyone knew there would be no walls. Predicted that more than a year ago.

Agreed, more like barriers at the border. However, raids and audits of employers and increased funding for ICE teams are coming back.

Trump isn't willing to compromise letting dacers have 3 years of security with out a fight. And the next years are going to be interesting as heck. I remember a friend of mine getting stopped in Washington because his break lights weren't working. Was forward to ICE and deported.

All speculation. Thats all we can do.