# What Effect Will Trump's Concentration Camps have on his reelection campaign? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 19, 2019, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738 "2019-06-19T12:15:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/41 "2019-06-19T15:05:28Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I’m glad to hear you don’t support Trump. > > They’re still concentration camps. A lot of “detention” or “refugee” camps qualify as such. A lot of people in a small space with inadequate facilities and limited options (if any) for going elsewhere. > > The “detainees” are locked up. So far as I know, NONE of them are free to leave until the people with the keys say they can go. Do you think the majority of Americans, or even the majority of Democrats, would be fine with everyone crossing the southern border being given a court date and then be allowed to wander the country until then? Maybe you and I think that’s the right thing to do, but do you think attacking the very idea of immigration detention is a vote getter? If they were being held with 5 star accommodations, it would still be a concentration camp right? Because migrants are being concentrated! ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/42 "2019-06-19T15:14:17Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I’m sorry - are you not aware that young children, some as young as toddlers are being locked up in [del]cages[/del] prison cells? Are you claiming that those children did this of their own free will rather than being taken across by adults? Yes, of course I’m aware. So? Children accompanying their parents are also not in “the wrong place at the wrong time”. Which is my point. > [@](#): > > We generally don’t put young children in jail for the actions of adults. Unless they come from the south and speak Spanish as their first language. Or something else foreign, but right now is seems to be a major problem with folks from sough of the border. I agree. That’s why my idea is better than detaining children in cages. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/43 "2019-06-19T15:15:54Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Yikes. I mean, I have no faith in the American electorate, but this is just brutal. ☹ I had some faith in the American electorate before 2016. Now I have very little. The fact that ANYone still supports the Cheeto-faced Shitgibbon continually astounds me. I honestly don’t think your country will ever recover. I think this is the start of a long slide down. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/44 "2019-06-19T15:25:58Z")
Also, quick meta note. I’d rather we not discuss whether or not we’re actually running concentration camps at the borders. At least if you don’t have at least some form of expertise (say, a historian, or a holocaust expert) to weigh in with. This thread is not about the “whether”, it’s about the “electoral impacts of”, and while “this isn’t a thing that will have an impact because it’s not a thing” is a take one can have, I sincerely doubt that anyone involved is going to step the rhetoric down, especially as conditions in the camps continue to worsen and people keep on dying. Whether “concentration camp” is 100% accurate or not, now it’s out in the mainstream, and it’s very unlikely that that genie gets put back in the bottle. (Besides, I tried to have that conversation before and it didn’t go well. I do welcome anyone interested to make their own thread, and I’ll gladly participate in it, but let’s try to keep this thread on topics germane to elections, i.e. “what will this do to the polls”.) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/45 "2019-06-19T15:28:21Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Do you think the majority of Americans, or even the majority of Democrats, would be fine with everyone crossing the southern border being given a court date and then be allowed to wander the country until then? I think the majority of Americans are blissfully unaware of just how much of their produce is picked by people crossing the border without permission, how much lawncare/landscaping/construction is done by people crossing the border without permission, how many hotels rooms/offices/buildings/homes are cleaned by people crossing the border without permission, how much childcare is provided by people crossing the border without permission. We have ELEVEN MILLION people in the US without permission, they didn’t all just arrive in the past month or two. They’ve been coming here for decades. The country has not imploded. CLEARLY no one really gave a damn about this until recently. Well, OK, Ronald Reagan worked up an amnesty deal for a few million back 30+ years ago. See how well that worked? So while a lot of Americans want to get butt hurt about this all of a sudden in actual fact they approve of it, and if the cost of food, lawnmowing, new homes, and nannies went up they’d scream bloody murder - because if there are no more illegal aliens to do these jobs for a pittance either they go undone or they’ll have to pay Americans a higher wage to do it. So yes, the majority of Americans are in favor of illegally entering workers whether they realize it or not. And until very recently YES, that’s _exactly_ what happened: people with a claim to asylum were given a court date and allowed to stay in the US until that point in time. Again, that has been the case for DECADES and the nation has not imploded. > [@CarnalK](#): > > If they were being held with 5 star accommodations, it would still be a concentration camp right? Because migrants are being concentrated! Nope. Because a “5-star accommodation” has things like adequate flush toilets/modern sanitation for the number of people being housed, children could stay with their parents, and a hell of a lot fewer walls made out of chain-link fencing. Oh, and things like actual bedsheets instead of mylar emergency blankets. And actual beds instead of the floor. They could piss or shit when they need to instead of asking/begging permission and hoping they get it before they piss and shit on themselves. They could get a shower when they want it instead of when someone deigns to grant it. There are chairs to sit on instead of concrete. And so on and so forth. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/46 "2019-06-19T15:29:49Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Yes, of course I’m aware. So? Children accompanying their parents are also not in “the wrong place at the wrong time”. Which is my point. I’m not sure what your point is exactly. Because the parents did something wrong it’s OK to separate families and lock up young children in cages? Is that what you’re saying? ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/47 "2019-06-19T15:29:51Z")
If that’s the case, then this is the answer: > [@RitterSport](#): > > Zero. Which of his base of 40% of voters do you think this will affect? His supporters here certainly won’t change their minds. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/48 "2019-06-19T15:30:13Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Also, quick meta note. > > I’d rather we not discuss whether or not we’re actually running concentration camps at the borders. At least if you don’t have at least some form of expertise (say, a historian, or a holocaust expert) to weigh in with. This thread is not about the “whether”, it’s about the “electoral impacts of”, and while “this isn’t a thing that will have an impact because it’s not a thing” is a take one can have, I sincerely doubt that anyone involved is going to step the rhetoric down, especially as conditions in the camps continue to worsen and people keep on dying. Whether “concentration camp” is 100% accurate or not, now it’s out in the mainstream, and it’s very unlikely that that genie gets put back in the bottle. I think calling them “concentration camps” is intended to have electoral consequences and you damn well know it. And I think it will backfire because I don’t think Americans are against the concept of holding migrants at the border, they just don’t want to see children in cages separated from their parents. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/49 "2019-06-19T15:33:10Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I’m not sure what your point is exactly. > > Because the parents did something wrong it’s OK to separate families and lock up young children in cages? Is that what you’re saying? No, that’s not at all what I’m saying. I’m saying that people (whether children or not) who come to a place to request asylum are not in “the wrong place at the wrong time” as per the definitions put forth by **iiandyiiii** , making his definition of concentration camp non-applicable to those asylum seekers. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/50 "2019-06-19T15:41:34Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > So while a lot of Americans want to get butt hurt about this all of a sudden in actual fact they approve of it, and if the cost of food, lawnmowing, new homes, and nannies went up they’d scream bloody murder - because if there are no more illegal aliens to do these jobs for a pittance either they go undone or they’ll have to pay Americans a higher wage to do it. So yes, the majority of Americans are in favor of illegally entering workers whether they realize it or not. Out of curiosity: what the heck do you figure I’d have to do to clearly establish that, no, I’m not in favor of it and do not in actual fact approve of it? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/51 "2019-06-19T15:42:17Z")
Because a lot of people are not nice people. Because a lot of people don’t care if it’s not them or someone they care about affected. But… getting back to the original question… IF the camps and the conditions in them are sufficiently publicized it may have an anti-Trump effect at election time. IF the media does not sufficiently show the bad conditions and call into question the morality of the situation then no, it will have no effect on the upcoming election. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/52 "2019-06-19T15:43:51Z")
I would suspect that a significant number of Trump supporters see it as a dichotomy - that it’s either keep illegal immigrants in camps, or let them wander about freely in America. And that as long as the only viable alternative to “concentration camps” is “Let them roam about,” then they won’t oppose the camps. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/53 "2019-06-19T15:48:28Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I would suspect that a significant number of Trump supporters see it as a dichotomy - that it’s either keep illegal immigrants in camps, or let them wander about freely in America. And that as long as the only viable alternative to “concentration camps” is “Let them roam about,” then they won’t oppose the camps. Do you not think a significant number of Americans, not just Trump supporters, see this as a dichotomy? What do you think anti-Trump people want to happen? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/54 "2019-06-19T15:51:58Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > So while a lot of Americans want to get butt hurt about this all of a sudden in actual fact they approve of it, and if the cost of food, lawnmowing, new homes, and nannies went up they’d scream bloody murder - because if there are no more illegal aliens to do these jobs for a pittance either they go undone or they’ll have to pay Americans a higher wage to do it. So yes, the majority of Americans are in favor of illegally entering workers whether they realize it or not. > > Out of curiosity: what the heck do you figure I’d have to do to clearly establish that, no, I’m not in favor of it and do not in actual fact approve of it? When possible, purchase “fair trade” foods and commodities and items that you can establish are harvested by legal residents (whether citizens or here with permission). This will cost a little bit more, it is true, but put your money where your mouth is. Hire workers for your maintenance/construction/childcare needs that can prove they are here legally (whether citizen or here with permission), or if you go through a third party, ask for assurances they their employees are such. Again, this will cost you more money but put your money where your mouth is. Of course, as a person on the internet I can’t check up on you, and frankly, I’m not interested in that sort of job anyway, but the more people who “vote” in the manner I outline above the less of an unwanted migration problem we’ll have. Less - because some of these people are not so much running towards the US as away from some terrible thing where they came from. It could be lack of food due to crop failure. It could be fleeing from drug cartels and other sorts of criminal gangs. It could be a situation like Venezuela where a country has collapsed and remaining is more dangerous than leaving. You aren’t going to “discourage” such people short of machine gun fire - I don’t want to go to that extreme and I hope you don’t either. When being locked up in jail is safer than staying home you’re not going to stop such people from trying to enter the US… but it’s not a justification for treating them like shit, either. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/55 "2019-06-19T15:53:30Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > No, that’s not at all what I’m saying. I’m saying that people (whether children or not) who come to a place to request asylum are not in “the wrong place at the wrong time” as per the definitions put forth by **iiandyiiii** , making his definition of concentration camp non-applicable to those asylum seekers. Yes they are (at least some of them, anyway). We might have different understandings of that phrase, but people doing the only things they can to survive but still being punished for it are “in the wrong place at the wrong time”. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/56 "2019-06-19T15:55:52Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > IF the media does not sufficiently show the bad conditions and call into question the morality of the situation then no, it will have no effect on the upcoming election. Well, it doesn’t seem like there is that much media attention about it. If it was so bad, wouldn’t it be on TV and on the front page of every newspaper every single day? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/57 "2019-06-19T15:56:55Z")
This is essentially a question about messaging. I think it’s possible that the Democrats could tie the phrase “concentration camp” to the GOP with some very skilled and coordinated messaging, but I don’t know if they’re capable of that. I’d also like them to make the phrase “party of sexual assault” part of their regular rhetorical drumbeat, at least from the designated attack dogs (the actual candidates can use “nicer” rhetoric). But this would take some coordinated messaging that they may or may not be capable of. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/58 "2019-06-19T16:07:09Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > This is essentially a question about messaging. I think it’s possible that the Democrats could tie the phrase “concentration camp” to the GOP with some very skilled and coordinated messaging, but I don’t know if they’re capable of that. I’d also like them to make the phrase “party of sexual assault” part of their regular rhetorical drumbeat, at least from the designated attack dogs (the actual candidates can use “nicer” rhetoric). But this would take some coordinated messaging that they may or may not be capable of. Forgot to mention that even a successful and coordinated use of these phrases, such that they’re tied to the GOP to the same level that “big government” is tied to the Democrats, imight have no significant affect on the election, because so many Americans are fine with the idea of concentration camps for migrants and don’t believe sexual assault is a significant problem. But in the long term, as attitudes change, these could be very effective attacks. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/59 "2019-06-19T16:21:12Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Yes, quite obviously. It would also fit “extermination camp” if these camps started exterminating them. They’re being separated and “concentrated” in clearly substandard (from a human rights perspective) facilities. > > If there weren’t already a much more accurate word (prison), then yes. > > There’s a distinction, but it’s not about what to call the camps. They’re not prisons – these aren’t convicted criminals who received due process. There’s no better descriptor for them than concentration camps. You realize you can be jailed or detained even if you haven’t been found guilty in a court? Migrants aren’t randomly being rounded up. Those who are suspected of being here illegally are in some cases being detained. Just like people in the US who are suspected of other crimes may be put in a jail while awaiting trial. ---
**Author:** ![LAZombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b38774/32.png) [@LAZombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LAZombie)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/60 "2019-06-19T16:22:38Z")
Why isn’t anyone warning these people that concentration camps await them at the US border? If there were actual concentration camps, wouldn’t that dissuade them from coming? That seems like common sense. I hope the Democrats continue to push this narrative. Most people have common sense and will see it as lies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738.md?page=4)