Kobach photo with Trump may offer hints on immigration policy

President-elect Donald Trump pauses to pose for photographs as he greets Kansas Secretary of State, Kris Kobach, at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster clubhouse, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2016, in Bedminster, N.J.. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach may have shown his hand, in the most literal sense, when he posed for a picture Sunday just before his interview with President-elect Donald Trump.

The photos, released by The Associated Press, show Kobach holding a binder for a legal pad with some papers on the outside facing the cameras. Zooming in on the document itself, the photo shows a paper titled “Department of Homeland Security, Kobach Strategic Plan For First 365 Days.”

President-elect Donald Trump pauses to pose for photographs as he greets Kansas Secretary of State, Kris Kobach, at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster clubhouse, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2016, in Bedminster, N.J.. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

In Kansas, Kobach has been known as an outspoken opponent of illegal immigration and the lead champion of strict voting laws that require people to show proof of U.S. citizenship in order to vote. During the presidential campaign, he was a vocal supporter of Trump, appearing on network news programs as a surrogate for the candidate to talk about immigration policy.

Since the election, he has served on Trump’s transition team, advising the new administration about immigration, and he has been widely rumored to be in the running for an appointment in the new administration.

But the document he carried with him into the meeting — or at least the portion that is visible in the photo — may provide the clearest clues yet about what may lie ahead for immigration policy in the new Trump administration.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach holds a packet of papers while posing with Donald Trump in this cropped and rotated photo from the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster clubhouse, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2016, in Bedminster, N.J.. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The first item listed reads “Bar the Entry of Potential Terrorists,” and includes a comment about reactivating a registration system that would trigger government tracking of aliens coming into the country from “high-risk areas.”

The second item appears to suggest stepping up deportations of aliens who have been convicted of crimes, including “193,000 criminal removal cases dropped by the Obama Administration.”

There is also a reference in the middle of the page about defining a criminal alien as “any alien arrested for any crime, or any gang member.” And it mentions “386 miles of existing actual wall,” an apparent reference to the border wall between the United States and Mexico.

During the campaign, Trump vowed to build a wall along the entire 1,989-mile border with Mexico and to make Mexico pay for it, although he has since softened that position somewhat. He also spoke of banning all entry into the U.S. of Muslims and people from countries “compromised” by terrorism.

At the bottom of the document, most of which is covered by Kobach’s jacket sleeve, are references to election laws, including an item suggesting “Draft Amendments to National Voter” [Registration Act].

That last item is of particular interest in Kansas because of a string of recent federal and state court rulings that have effectively overturned Kansas’ proof-of-citizenship requirement, at least as it applies to voters who register through a motor vehicle office or by using a federal mail-in form that does not require citizenship documentation.

Kobach did not return emails and text messages seeking comment Monday, and the voicemail box on his cellphone was full. Officials in the secretary of state’s office also did not return phone messages Monday.