Trump supporter cites Japanese-American internment camps as ‘precedent’ for federal Muslim registry

A supporter of President-elect Donald Trump cited the United States’ use of internment camps for Japanese-Americans during World War II as “precedent” for a federal registry of Muslim immigrants during an interview Wednesday on Fox News.

Host Megyn Kelly asked Carl Higbie, a former Navy SEAL and a spokesman for the pro-Trump Great America PAC, if such a registry would create a “a slippery slope where Muslims may just get lumped into some group, where they get put in a registry, and some, you know, some aggressive law enforcement actor in the future might abuse that list?”

Higbie acknowledged that “there is always a case for abuse,” but he still supports a registry, which he said will “hold constitutional muster.”

“I know the ACLU is gonna challenge it, but I think it'll pass, and we've done it with Iran back, back a while ago,” he said. “We did it during World War II with Japanese, which, you know, call it what you will, maybe—”

“Come on,” an incredulous Kelly interjected. “You're not — you're not proposing we go back to the days of internment camps, I hope.”

“No, no, no,” he replied. “I'm not proposing that at all, Megyn, but what I am saying is we need to protect America from—”

“You know better than to suggest that,” Kelly continued. “I mean, that's the kind of stuff that gets people scared, Carl.”

“I'm just saying there is precedent for it,” Higbie said. “And I'm not saying I agree with it, but in this case I absolutely believe that a regional based—”

Kelly replied that “you can't be citing Japanese internment camps as precedent for anything the president-elect is gonna do.”

“Look, the president needs to protect America first, and if that means having people that are not protected under our Constitution have some sort of registry so we can understand, until we can identify the true threat and where it's coming from, I support it,” Higbie said.