Former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Thursday she finds it a "mystery" what Donald Trump is talking about when he refers to "extreme vetting" of immigrants, but she says "ideological screening" is what he really means.
"There is vetting that is [already] done overseas," Napolitano, also a former Arizona Democratic governor and now president of the University of California system, told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell.
"There is vetting that is done at different layers."
And if what Trump is indeed talking about ideological screening, in the form of "are you going to be American if you immigrate to the United States" is "just something that we don't do and it's just unworkable," Napolitano said.
There has been criticism that refugees from Syria and other nations gripped by terrorism could bring extremists into the United States, and Napolitano agreed that there is always room for improvement of the nation's immigration laws, and she would not suggest otherwise.
"But I think where Mr. Trump is going is a whole different level that really won't improve on anything other than, say, well, we're going to have ideological tests for coming into the United States," said Napolitano, who served as the Secretary of Homeland Security under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013.
She also spoke out about Trump's call for deportation of criminal immigrants, pointing out that Immigration and Customs Enforcement already has priorities set in place to focus on people who have committed serious felonies and deport them.
"I think he's talking about any level of crime . . . traffic offenses, loitering and the like, that you quickly run into areas of racial profiling," said Napolitano. "He was with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio yesterday as you saw. As you know, Joe Arpaio has been referred to the Department of Justice for racial profiling."
In the United States, she continued, there are immigrants who are welcomed, and the nation allows for the talents those people will bring in.
"The notion of a force kind of walking around looking for people with traffic offenses and loitering and the like, I'm not sure that's consistent with American values," said Napolitano.
She said the speeches of "Angel Moms" who have lost loved ones to murders committed by undocumented immigrants are "powerful," but she thinks care needs to be taken so the entire immigration system isn't criticized because of individual cases.
"Our borders are living breathing things," said Napolitano. "It's a port of entry, that's a good thing, job creator and border communities. We don't view it just as a physical wall. That's not the way a border works."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.