# 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:** 36
**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:** [July 25, 2019, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/701 "2019-07-25T20:32:01Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > The other thing is, Trump/Russia is just one thing. Like I’ve said before, we could and should impeach him over babies in cages, because nothing remotely like this should be happening in America, he’s had a year to fix this, and conditions seem to be even more horrible now than we knew about last summer. Before any Republican votes to impeach in the House or convict in the Senate, he or she will have to do some serious soul searching, and ask themselves the most important question; the only question that really matters as a moral,ethical human being after seeing the horrendous conditions that these children are in… “If I vote yes, how will this effect my re-election chances?” ETA apologies if I have insulted anyone here, or if I am posting too many times in this thread) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/702 "2019-07-25T20:40:49Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I hope you’re right. I guess I see it as, what we already know about Trump/Russia is at least as strong as what we knew about Nixon when the Judiciary Committee voted articles of impeachment on Nixon. (Which as I’m sure you remember, happened _before_ the release of the ‘smoking gun’ tape rendered the whole thing moot.) … I do remember, but just in case I don’t, I’ve watched _All the President’s Men_ about 12 times since the election. :dubious: May have to watch it again tonight. Heck, maybe I’m just blowing sunshine up my own skirt. I keep searching for reasons to be optimistic. I feel like Leonardo DiCaprio when he was hanging on to that piece of wreckage in the Atlantic. Right before he went down for good. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/703 "2019-07-25T22:47:47Z")
I’m not the sort that gives up hope easily, and I’m not giving up now. But I’ve got to admit that this morning, I was about as despondent as I’ve been anytime in the past two and a half years. I didn’t expect that _public opinion_ would change in the least. But I was hoping that more than just a few Congressional Democrats might find enough reason yesterday to support an impeachment inquiry, especially since several dozen Dems _in very safe districts_ (65 in D+8 or better districts) still haven’t said where they stand on impeachment. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2019, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/704 "2019-07-26T00:06:08Z")
Active-duty U.S. troops are now just feet away from migrants in Texas The troops “monitor” migrants at a Texas facility. One congressman said they shouldn’t be prison guards, and are close to breaking the posse comitatus law. From Here: > **[Active-duty U.S. troops are now just feet away from migrants in Texas](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/active-duty-u-s-troops-are-now-just-feet-away-n1034416)** > > The troops "monitor" migrants at a Texas facility. One congressman said they shouldn't be prison guards, and are close to breaking the Posse Comitatus law. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2019, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/705 "2019-07-26T00:21:36Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I’m not the sort that gives up hope easily, and I’m not giving up now. But I’ve got to admit that this morning, I was about as despondent as I’ve been anytime in the past two and a half years. > > … One wakes up to despondency every day now. > [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Active-duty U.S. troops are now just feet away from migrants in Texas > The troops “monitor” migrants at a Texas facility. One congressman said they shouldn’t be prison guards, and are close to breaking the posse comitatus law. > > From Here: > > [Active-duty U.S. troops are now just feet away from migrants in Texas](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/active-duty-u-s-troops-are-now-just-feet-away-n1034416) From that link: > [@](#): > > …The troops were assigned to the facility to provide welfare checks on the migrants, but the officials say that has evolved into a continual presence watching over them. > > The troops are not armed and are supposed to refer problems to CBP officials rather than interact with the migrants, say the officials, but they are permitted to respond to situations that require immediate medical attention… One can only hope that these troops (my father was military and so was my late husband) are not infected with the law enforcement mindset of the border guards, and that they will be shocked and moved to compassion by what they are witnessing. ---
**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:** [July 26, 2019, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/706 "2019-07-26T01:25:14Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > One wakes up to despondency every day now. > > From that link: One can only hope that these troops (my father was military and so was my late husband) are not infected with the law enforcement mindset of the border guards, and that they will be shocked and moved to compassion by what they are witnessing. I applaud your optimism. What make you think these troops won’t [act like everyone else?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment) ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2019, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/707 "2019-07-26T01:47:25Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Before any Republican votes to impeach in the House or convict in the Senate, he or she will have to do some serious soul searching, and ask themselves the most important question; the only question that really matters as a moral,ethical human being after seeing the horrendous conditions that these children are in… > > “If I vote yes, how will this effect my re-election chances?” > > ETA apologies if I have insulted anyone here, or if I am posting too many times in this thread) The entire Republican party, and their voters, showed their true colors when their response to these concentration camps being called ‘concentration camps’ was to argue the term and ignore the conditions that prompted it. They are lost to humanity at this point. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2019, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/708 "2019-07-26T02:19:44Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I applaud your optimism. What make you think these troops won’t [act like everyone else?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment) I don’t know. But I was an Air Force brat, grew up around military people, have loved several military men, and married one. They’re not trained law enforcement officers. Their careers mostly don’t consist of strapping on a gun and looking for bad guys except when at war or in a war zone. But in fact, I don’t know. Maybe they will succumb to the dark side and take pleasure in torturing little children. Give me a break… I’m looking for something to be a tiny bit optimistic about, kwim? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/709 "2019-07-30T21:40:20Z")
Update. **[More Than 900 Migrant Children Have Been Separated From Their Families Over Past Year](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/30/us/migrant-family-separations.html?emc=rss&partner=rss)** > [@](#): > > LOS ANGELES — More than a year after President Trump officially ended migrant family separations at the southern border, immigration authorities continue to routinely separate families for reasons as minor as a parent not changing a baby’s diaper or having a traffic citation for driving without a license, according to new documents filed Tuesday in federal court. > > More than 900 children have been removed from an adult — usually a parent — with whom they arrived at the southern border since June of 2018, according to tallies provided by the Department of Justice to the American Civil Liberties Union, which is challenging the separations. > > “The administration is still doing family separation under the guise that they are protecting children from their own parents even though the criminal history they are citing is either wrong or shockingly minor,” said Lee Gelernt, with the A.C.L.U.’s Immigrants Rights Project. “This is just circumventing the court’s order.” > … ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/710 "2019-07-30T21:52:04Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I’m not the sort that gives up hope easily, and I’m not giving up now. But I’ve got to admit that this morning, I was about as despondent as I’ve been anytime in the past two and a half years. > > I didn’t expect that _public opinion_ would change in the least. But I was hoping that more than just a few Congressional Democrats might find enough reason yesterday to support an impeachment inquiry, especially since several dozen Dems _in very safe districts_ (65 in D+8 or better districts) still haven’t said where they stand on impeachment. …which is one reason I hope Tom Steyer can somehow force his way into the conversation. A long shot, I know, but I think what’s really missing here is grassroots energy. There simply is none. That’s really why I’ve been reluctant on impeachment, not because I don’t think he should be impeached or that minds can’t be persuaded, but I really think (respectfully) that the proponents of impeachment are advocating a top-down impeachment argument, which I don’t think is going to work, especially in the age of de-massified media. In today’s digital age, it is harder and harder to get people to pay attention to issues - even important issues. That’s why there’s so many people seemingly shrug off the atrocities at the border, and why they (we collectively) shrug off so much of what Trump does. We need a grassroots coalition to come together and really push for impeachment, to have that conversation among many different constituencies. And digital media, social media, and even traditional advertising can play a role. But nothing will be good old fashioned organizing. Democrats in congress aren’t going to have the balls to impeach until they’re inspired, or frightened by, their constituents. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2019, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/711 "2019-07-30T22:05:16Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Update. > > **[More Than 900 Migrant Children Have Been Separated From Their Families Over Past Year](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/30/us/migrant-family-separations.html?emc=rss&partner=rss)** This is a feature, not a bug – Trump and his administration are on record as believing that harming migrant children and families is a positive good. This is what they want to occur. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2019, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/712 "2019-07-31T01:26:09Z")
Because life is a sacred gift from god, dontcha know. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2019, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/713 "2019-08-09T09:48:28Z")
A little follow-up on this. Yesterday, ICE rounded up some 680 people at food processing plants in Mississippi. > **[ICE arrests 680 workers at Mississippi food processing plants](https://boingboing.net/2019/08/07/ice-arrests-680-workers-at-mis.html)** > > The largest single-state worksite immigration raid in American history took place today. Under orders from openly racist U.S. president Donald Trump, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 680 Latinx people… Now, there’s plenty to think about here. Like that [this raid targeted workers at plants that won discrimination lawsuits](https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/8/headlines/ice_raids_targeted_company_whose_workers_won_discrimination_lawsuit). Or that the timing is mighty suspicious given how the plant just recently unionized. How this feels like yet another example of using ICE as a cudgel against poor, disenfranchised workers, to stomp down any attempt they make to demand their rights or improve their station. That’s a discussion worth having. But I’d like to focus on something else. This was on one of the first school days of the new semester. Part of the fallout from this raid was that countless children ended their school day and their parents were just… gone. > **[ICE releases hundreds rounded up in Mississippi as children left behind](https://abcnews.go.com/US/ice-releases-hundreds-immigrants-rounded-mississippi-children-left/story?id=64848487)** > > Several hundred individuals arrested during a roundup across Mississippi, leaving their children without parents in some cases, have been released, ICE said. This is a level of cruelty that really cannot be overstated. Imagine going to school one day, and then coming back to find out that your parents are just… gone. And so are your friends’ parents. And it’s because of their skin color - _your_ skin color. It’s unimaginable. Obviously, [this has had a chilling effect on the latinx students of the local school districts](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hamedaleaziz/kids-attendance-schools-ice-raid-operation-mississippi). While educators could not pinpoint the exact reason why each student was missing, it wasn’t hard for them to surmise. Local advocates reported that many children stayed home for fear of additional arrests, and community officials worry it will be some time before immigrant families feel safe to go out in public again. In other communities struck by worksite raids, workers have left, jobs have faded, and many have depended on charitable donations for support. “We’ve reached out to them,” said Tony McGee, superintendent of the Scott County School District. “Part of it is fear, the fear of coming to school. There is an uneasiness of moving around the community, moving about schools but we are trying to reassure them: school is a safe harbor.” I’d say something about how anyone wondering why I’m so angry should watch [this clip of a crying child begging for her father](https://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/08/08/crying-children-mississippi-immigration-raids-gallagher-pkg-lead-vpx.cnn), but it’s already pretty well-established that [that won’t move people](https://youtu.be/O8UzmLsXGRU?t=1544). What interests me in no small part is the ethos at play here. We are dealing with _unimaginable_ cruelty. The kind that should lead people to stop and think, “Whoa, are we the bad guys?” even without the [obvious historical parallels](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/18/separation-children-parents-families-us-border-trump) to what is universally seen as the most monstrous doctrine in human history. The list of horrific atrocities just keeps piling up (here’s [another recent one](https://www.mlive.com/news/2019/08/diabetic-iraqi-man-from-detroit-dies-after-being-deported-to-iraq.html?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=flintjournal_sf&utm_source=facebook) where we deported a diabetic man to a country he never lived in and he died)… And yet, the overwhelming response I keep seeing from the right is “Here is a reason not to care.” If you want to understand right-wing thought in the USA today, this ethos is the #1 thing you have to understand. So much of what they do or say is **finding an excuse not to care about human suffering**. Cops shoot an unarmed man? “He shouldn’t have resisted arrest.” Poor people die because they can’t afford medicine? “Should have worked harder.” ICE deports hundreds of people, leaving hundreds of children suddenly without parents? “I blame their parents for coming here illegaly.” ICE runs concentration camps in abysmal conditions with [consistent](https://rewire.news/article/2019/04/05/ice-increased-risks-pregnant-migrants-detention/) [atrocities](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/27/us/immigrant-children-sexual-abuse.html) where people [just keep dying](https://www.aclu.org/blog/immigrants-rights/immigrants-rights-and-detention/immigrant-kids-keep-dying-cbp-detention)? “They shouldn’t have crossed the border.” It’s never our fault. It’s never the fault of our policies, our institutions, our politicians. It’s always their fault. “They provoked us.” “They forced our hand.” “What option do we have other than to put them in concentration camps?” “What, you expect cops to risk their lives?” Any reason not to care about the suffering of others. Does it matter that there are alternatives? No - they’re not interested in fixing the problem, they’re interested in finding reasons not to care. Look through this thread, you’ll find that exact same thought pattern. > [@octopus](#): > > Instead of being outraged at states, cities, and nutty politicians encouraging this flood of immigration with endorsement of de facto open border policies you all are outraged at the admittedly rough response. “The problem isn’t that we’re funnelling people into concentration camps, it’s that we’ve allowed immigration to get to this point!” Never mind that immigration isn’t actually worse now than it was under Obama, and that we are _choosing_ to put people in camps as a means to deter illegal immigration. This means **octopus** doesn’t have to care about the policy or the cruelty; he has his excuse. > [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I’m aware of some of the reports of conditions in the “camps”. I don’t generally find those sources terribly credible. I think they, like you, have an agenda they’re propagandizing for and pushing, and they’ll pick a couple of anecdotes and try to pretend / imply that those exceptions represent conditions generally. “It’s just fake news.” This is the most basic variant of the argument - the easiest way to not care is to just claim that **it isn’t happening**. That this is an utterly asinine take that directly contradicts the evidence we have and could easily be used to deny [literally anything](https://www.jta.org/2019/07/16/united-states/anti-semitic-fliers-in-massachusetts-declare-holocaust-fake-news) doesn’t matter - he has his excuse to not care. > [@Bone](#): > > Can the people in the camps leave of they wish? “See, if these refugees agree to be sent back to the places they are fleeing (and where they will [probably be murdered](https://www.salon.com/2019/02/20/trans-woman-denied-asylum-by-trump-administration-murdered-after-deportation-to-el-salvador-report/)), they could leave the camps!” And there’s his excuse - he doesn’t have to care about how awful the camps are. It’s important to understand where people are coming from. I linked this video earlier, but it is worth watching in full - “[How Societies Turn Cruel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8UzmLsXGRU)”. It’s by a German history youtuber, talking about the gradual turn from liberal 1920s Germany to Nazi 1930s Germany, and drawing some rather horrifying societal parallels. And it really does come down to this - they don’t care. If I could beg all of you for just one thing, it would be this: _care_. Care about the monstrous policies at play here. Care about the unbelievable suffering we are causing. Don’t look for an excuse, don’t grasp for a rationalization, don’t tune it out because it seems unbelievable. Notice how they are suffering and _care_. Because there are a great many forces in our country that are doing everything they can to snuff out that spark of empathy, and convince us not to care. Entire propaganda networks dedicated to convincing us not to care. And down that road, madness lies. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/714 "2019-08-09T11:02:16Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > …And down that road, madness lies. And even more evil. ☹ Well said, **BPC**. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/715 "2019-08-09T11:53:23Z")
The raid was intended to terrify Hispanic communities, and it was also intended to impress white Christian nationalists. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/716 "2019-08-09T12:41:47Z")
I’d say it succeeded at both of those. **[U.S. defends secretive Mississippi ICE raids as local, state officials decry effect on children](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/us-defends-secretive-miss-ice-raids-as-local-state-officials-decry-effect-on-children/2019/08/08/485d6240-ba21-11e9-b3b4-2bb69e8c4e39_story.html)** > [@](#): > > U.S. authorities strongly defended Wednesday’s mass immigration raids at Mississippi workplaces, saying the secretive operation to arrest undocumented immigrants was successful even as it led to images of weeping children arriving home to find their parents missing. > > **The operation was so closely guarded that ICE officials did not even inform the White House before it began,** according to Matthew Albence, the agency’s acting director, and other administration officials. Because previous plans for high-profile ICE raids had been disrupted by public disclosure — including tweets from President Trump telegraphing them — the agency this time stealthily streamed 600 agents to Mississippi, many flown from other parts of the country. > … My bold. So… we can’t tell the president ahead of time when we’re going to pull off something secret, 'cause he’ll blurt it out over Twitter. Right. :dubious: > [@](#): > > …In Forest, Miss., local news reporters broadcast images of children huddled on the floor of a gymnasium on Wednesday evening because they returned home from school to find no one was there to take care of them. In other Mississippi towns, children had to be taken in by neighbors after they walked home from school but were locked out because their parents were detained in the raids. > > “The Department of Child Protection Services was not notified beforehand of the ICE activity, nor have we been contacted by them after the fact,” said Lea Anne Brandon, a spokeswoman for the agency. “It is frustrating because we have resources on the ground, trained, ready and licensed to respond to emergency situations, and we could have provided services that instead appeared to be put together in a makeshift fashion.” > > Jere Miles, the special agent in charge of the New Orleans office of the Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) unit — which ran the ICE raids — said authorities took tremendous care to make sure no children were left in vulnerable situations. > > Miles said local schools were notified shortly after the raids began. He added that agents gave those who were arrested access to phones so they could make arrangements for their children. > … > > \*\*About half of those arrested were released by Thursday, \*\*officials said, acknowledging that they were not a threat to the public. Many were parents who officials said were released to care for young children — some were driven back to their workplaces and issued a summons to appear before an immigration judge at a later date. > … My bold. Now that we got maximum impact and cranked up the fear factor, we let a bunch of 'em go anyways. Win-win! But wait! There’s more! **[The ICE raids in Mississippi may indefinitely separate some children from their parents](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/08/08/ice-raids-mississippi-may-indefinitely-separate-some-children-their-parents/)** > [@](#): > > …Unless there is criminal history, he said, the mother would probably be allowed to remain free until her court date. That could take months, though, given the number of detentions Wednesday — the most in a state in a single day in history. A judge may be detailed to the cases to work through them quickly. > > Asked how likely the agent’s prediction is — that the mother will be allowed to remain in the United States over the long-term — Leopold was pessimistic. > > “ **Under this administration, I would say, nil.** Almost none,” he said. “A high probability that she’ll be deported. And the reason is that this is what they do. They deport the easiest people to deport, and those are people who have no criminal history and who they can find fast.” > … > > If any of the children in Mississippi were unfortunate enough to have both parents arrested, only one would probably have been released Wednesday. Leopold noted a recent story in which a 3-year-old migrant child was asked to pick which parent would be allowed to remain in the United States to care for her. Some children of parents arrested in Mississippi might have had that decision made for them by the government. The parent who isn’t released probably will be held in detention — most likely without bond — until their court date. If they had an outstanding deportation order, that deportation could happen much more quickly. > … My bold. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/717 "2019-08-09T12:48:13Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > “See, if these refugees agree to be sent back to the places they are fleeing (and where they will [probably be murdered](https://www.salon.com/2019/02/20/trans-woman-denied-asylum-by-trump-administration-murdered-after-deportation-to-el-salvador-report/)), they could leave the camps!” And there’s his excuse - he doesn’t have to care about how awful the camps are. The fact that you’ve missed the context of my post you are quoting doesn’t inspire confidence in the rest of your interpretation. My question about whether people in the camps could leave was in the context of discussing the definition of “concentration camp” and whether it was accurate to use such a label if people were voluntarily entering and could leave if they so chose. I find it useful to have an accurate understanding of the fact pattern when discussing issues and rarely find an emotional response that elides these facts to be informative or productive. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2019, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/718 "2019-08-09T13:02:41Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > The fact that you’ve missed the context of my post you are quoting doesn’t inspire confidence in the rest of your interpretation. My question about whether people in the camps could leave was in the context of discussing the definition of “concentration camp” and whether it was accurate to use such a label if people were voluntarily entering and could leave if they so chose. If your options are “stay in the concentration camp” or “be sent back to the place you fled to be murdered”, the idea that it’s a meaningful choice to begin with is asinine. Hell, it turns out US citizens can leave the camps too, [if they agree to sign off on being deported](https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/25/i-was-ready-sign-deportation-papers-says-us-citizen-after-three-weeks-horrific)! And the conditions were so bad, he nearly did. I’d make a quip about “Sophie’s Choice” but [we’re so far gone](https://theslot.jezebel.com/the-trump-administration-created-a-real-life-sophies-ch-1836414749) that we really can’t make jokes referencing that: “So at that point, according to the family, the Border Patrol agent they were with said, ‘Okay, one parent will go back to Mexico then, and one parent will keep the kids and be allowed stay in the United States.’ The agent then turned to three-year-old Sofi and told her to make a choice: which parent did she want to go with?” I will concede that it was a bit of a stretch, as [your other posts in the thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=21717223#post21717223) indicate that you’re willing to care about the atrocities. I retract my statement that your post indicates that typical thought pattern. But it’s something you encounter over and over and over again when engaging the right - they will search, often very aggressively, for any justification not to care about the suffering of others. And that’s how things get really, _really_ bad. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2019, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/719 "2019-08-09T13:06:38Z")
That post was a month and a half old, dude. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/720 "2019-08-09T13:21:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Here’s another recent one where we deported a diabetic man to a country he never lived in and he died [Here](https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/1963208001) is a better article that doesn’t avoid pointing out that he was a career criminal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738.md?page=35) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738.md?page=37)