A prominent Trump supporter’s suggestion that Japanese internment camps are a “precedent” for a national Muslim registry has set off concern throughout the nation.
Carl Higbie, a former spokesman for Great America PAC, made his comments on an appearance on “The Kelly File” on Fox News. He was referring to suggestions from the Trump transition team, specifically Kris Kobach, who has suggested that the Trump administration could reinstate a national registry for immigrants that would target countries with active terrorist groups.
“We’ve done it based on race, we’ve done it based on religion, we’ve done it based on region,” Higbie said on the Fox News segment. “We’ve done it with Iran back — back a while ago. We did it the during World War II with Japanese.”
Higbie’s comments have been met with harsh criticism from the Asian Pacific American community.
This is dangerous. Have we failed to learn the lessons of the past? I worry for America. https://t.co/1Ol7DeLuDC
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) November 17, 2016
“Any proposal to force American Muslims to register with the federal government, and to use Japanese imprisonment during World War II as precedent, is abhorrent and has no place in our society,” Congresswoman Judy Chu said in a statement from the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), of which she is the chair.
“These remarks are beyond disturbing,” Congressman Mike Honda said. “This is fear, not courage. This is hate, not policy. This does not make America great but would take us back to the bigotry of the 1940s.”
Under such a policy, Muslims would be required to register to a database, though the president-elect has suggested they should be forced.
