Rand Paul wants to bring back Trump's 'Remain in Mexico' policy as a Senate chair

Kentucky U.S. Sen. Rand Paul said Thursday that he will lead the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, where he intends to immediately take up President-elect Donald Trump's plan to reinstate a policy requiring asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court.

Paul said he will be the committee's new chair after Republicans won control of the Senate in this month's elections. The new role will put Paul — a limited-government advocate and longtime skeptic of surveillance programs — in charge of a committee with broad jurisdiction over government operations, including the Department of Homeland Security. Paul has been the committee's ranking Republican during Democratic control of the Senate. His and other Senate committee chairmanships will become official at the start of the new Congress in early January.

“I chose to chair this committee over another