Kris Kobach: I need a private jet to be Trump's immigration czar

Former Kansas GOP Secretary of State Kris Kobach wants to become Trump’s “immigration czar,” but he’s got an outrageous list of demands, according to a New York Times report published Monday.

The Times got access to Kobach’s conditions for taking the job, and Kobach’s inflated sense of his worth couldn’t be clearer: He wants Trump to tell the heads of the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, and the Interior they have to do whatever Kobach says. He needs round-the-clock access to a government jet so he can go to the border — and back home to Kansas — every week. He wants a promise he’ll be the Secretary of DHS by the end of this year. And he also demanded an office in the West Wing and walk-in privileges to the Oval Office.

This is quite a list of requests from someone whose main political achievements thus far include being held in contempt of court over his voter suppression antics, running Trump’s ill-fated “voter fraud” commission, and losing to a Democrat in his bid for governor last year.

Kobach’s track record of consistent failure hasn’t dissuaded him from shooting for the moon. He also wants a security detail, a staff of seven, and the highest pay that White House staffers can receive.

While Kobach’s demands are absurd, one shouldn’t discount that he’s likely perfect for the czar job. He shares Trump’s barbaric views on immigration and he’s just as much of a grifter as Trump himself. For 13 years, he ran a scam where he approached small towns and got them to adopt stringent anti-immigrant laws while he took home a handsome consultant fee — $800,000 over the life of the scheme. However, those laws were often wildly unconstitutional, and towns spent millions defending the laws in court.

Fast-forward to the present day, and Kobach needs a job for a couple of key reasons. First, even Trump’s team doesn’t think Kobach would be confirmed by the Senate right now, and the immigration czar job doesn’t require confirmation since it isn’t an agency head. And, back home in Kansas, Kobach’s own party is desperately hoping he doesn’t run for U.S. Senate because he’s too hard-line even for Kansas Republicans.

Even Trump officials were, according to the Times, “taken aback” by how presumptuous Kobach’s requirements were. But there’s a real chance Trump, who backed Kobach for governor even as other Republicans dumped him, may see such brash demands as a plus. After all, they’re positively Trumpian.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.