Obama Moves To Thwart Trump On Terror Fight

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Via Robert Gehl

Barack Obama has just made it much harder for Donald Trump to try to keep America safe.

For nine years, a version of Trump’s most important proposals was U.S. government policy: requiring certain people in the United States from Muslim-majority countries to register with the U.S.

Obama suspended the program in 2011, after many complaints from civil rights groups and complaints it wasn’t effective (it resulted in few if any prosecutions), but it was never fully dismantled. It sat on the shelf, ready to be restarted by Trump if he wanted.

Until now. 

On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security issued a regulation that would completely eliminate the “National Entry-Exit Registration System” or NSEERS, forcing Trump to either spend the time reviving it or creating another database, something civil rights groups might be able to stop.

The new rule goes into effect Friday, well before Trump’s inauguration, Vox is reporting. So on Jan. 20, if Trump wants to begin a database of Muslim-Americans, he’s going to have to find another way to do it.

At least one contender to lead the Department of Homeland Security under Trump, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, is recommending the Trump administration “update and reintroduce the NSEERS screening and tracking system” for men in the US on “nonimmigrant” visas (such as work or student visas) from particular countries.

The NSEERS program forced people from 25 countries to register with the federal government and check in for follow-ups. It resulted in the deportation of about 13,000 people. It did not result in any convictions for terrorism or related crimes.

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