According to experts, the Trump administration is running concentration camps at the border. Numerous independent reports (example 1, example 2, example 3, example 4) including ones from DHS document the horrific condition that detainees[sup][1][/sup] suffer, including being crammed into cages so tight that they cannot sit down for weeks on end, being forced into labor, being kept in wet clothes in dangerously cold conditions, being tortured with extended solitary confinement, and being denied life-saving medical care.
Now Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a sitting congresswoman, has made a statement on this:
Previously, the issue was discussed mostly in terms of a few independent left-wing journalists such as Martin Garbus, but now it’s making headlines in the mainstream news. CBS: "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “The U.S. is running concentration camps on our southern border”; ABC: “Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Liz Cheney spar over ‘concentration camp’ comment”; NBC: “ICE chief blasts Ocasio-Cortez for comparing migrant detention centers to ‘concentration camps’”.
AOC is pretty good at making the right play defense, and this case seems no different. Now that a sitting congresswoman, particularly one with a massive social media presence, has outright endorsed the claims of Andrea Pitzer (author of One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps, seen here talking to MSNBC’s Chris Hayes), the mainstream media can no longer ignore this.
The reaction from some on the right has, predictably, been to accuse AOC of antisemitism, call her crazy, insulting, and the usual things one might throw at a liberal woman making a “controversial” statement (although in this case the controversial statement is “quoting an expert in her field of expertise after personally visiting the camps to confirm that what she was hearing is true”).
But this issue has now officially hit the mainstream, and I’m having trouble imagining how it could be anything but bad news for Trump, especially because this is a story that isn’t going away any time soon[sup][2][/sup]. The longer this goes, the more photographs we’ll have like this one; the more children dead of preventable or treatable illness we’ll have in the news, and the more news cycles will end up devoted to continuing demonstrations of Adam Serwer’s point about the cruelty being the point. Meanwhile, the best defenses I’ve seen from the right involve complaining that “these concentration camps are not nearly as bad as the ones the nazis had”, which, as far as moral defenses go, is kind of a non-starter. It may, however, be enough of a thought-stopper to get people rolling their eyes and not thinking about things.
The first main worry in my head is whether this will move the needle at all. We’ve already seen that Trump supporters are very often on-board with Trump’s dehumanizing rhetoric[sup][3][/sup]. I’ve seen the complaint “you’re overreacting, it’s nothing like the nazis” lodged on this forum.
The second is that people don’t like to think about this, and the media may find that there’s little interest in these stories. People would rather look away. God knows, following this story online has not been good for my blood pressure or my family relationships; as my signature indicates it’s really hard for me to look past this in friends or family. If it turns out articles about this don’t do great numbers, we’re going to stop hearing about it in the mainstream media. It’s going to fade into the background, and become “the new normal”. This is not helped by ICE having a lot of wiggle room to turn away or impede journalists.
But, as said, I cannot picture this being a winner for Trump. Maybe that’s somewhat pollyannish, but how do you make “my opposition is credibly accusing me of running concentration camps” work for you rather than against you[sup][4][/sup]?
There’s an apocryphal story, often attributed to LBJ, about a conversation between him and an aide. LBJ wants to paint his opponent as a pigfucker. His aide responds, “we can’t prove that”, and LBJ says, “I know that, I just want to hear him deny it”.
Well, when it comes to ICE running concentration camps at the southern border, that’s where we are. It’s gotten widespread enough and gone mainstream enough that they feel the need to deny it. And once a claim like this goes this mainstream, when it’s clear that it’s not merely an insane conspiracy theory but that there are actually legs to it, there really is no configuration of words that can make “no, we’re not actually running concentration camps” sound good. And actual, honest-to-god concentration camps? Feels about as close to red meat for the democratic base as we’re likely to get.
[1] Note: DHS maintains that these detainments are civil, not criminal, and that they are not meant to be punitive:
Whether you think this matters may depend on whether or not you think this distinction matters or should matter for illegal immigrants, migrants, and asylum-seekers.
[2] There is no plan to improve conditions (in fact, if you peruse the esquire article I linked at the start, you’ll that situations have been consistently deteriorating and there’s every reason to believe it will continue to get worse), no plan to shut down these camps, and the Trump administration has taken no steps to milden its rhetoric on immigrants, instead escalating in recent days by threatening to deport, quote, “millions”.
[3] Trump turns shooting migrants into a punchline at Florida rally - Vox
“And don’t forget — we don’t let them and we can’t let them use weapons. We can’t,” Trump said. “Other countries do. We can’t. I would never do that. But how do you stop these people? You can’t. There’s—”
Before Trump could finish his thought, a woman in the audience yelled out. While it was unclear exactly what she said during television coverage of the event, numerous eyewitnesses reported she said, “Shoot them!”
Trump apparently found the suggestion amusing. He gestured at the person who yelled and said, “That’s only in the Panhandle, you can get away with that statement. Only in the Panhandle!”
[4] Okay I can think of two. The first is that the democrats stab her in the back. This is already being demanded on Fox News. The second is that the share of white fascists in the American Electorate is considerably higher than anyone thought. Both are not particularly likely, but both are possible and chilling.
