Immigrant internment camps: A terrifying prospect
The Trump administration is planning to build a nationwide network of what it euphemistically calls “immigrant processing and detention centers.” But let’s call them what they are: internment camps or, worse, concentration camps.
In New Hampshire, ICE has possibly already purchased a warehouse in Merrimack to use as a “processing center.” For weeks, Governor Kelly Ayotte claimed that she knew nothing about the project, despite the fact that acting ICE director Todd Lyons told Congress two weeks ago that ICE had been in communication with her.
Last Monday night on The Rachel Maddow Show, state representative Wendy Thomas said that the warehouse has already been sold to an unidentified buyer. She also said that the former owner of the warehouse is a financial supporter of Governor Ayotte.
Maddow recently observed, “If they build them, they will fill them up.” In light of that terrifying prospect, several states have blocked immigrant camps. Will New Hampshire follow suit?
Meanwhile, more than 70,000 people are being held indefinitely in ICE facilities, without legal recourse or communication with the outside. Members of Congress, who have the right to visit these facilities, have been prevented from doing so.
ICE camps could, according to border czar Tom Homan, eventually accommodate at least 100,000 people. Many of them will be run by private contractors, who view this as a moneymaking proposition. Lyons has said, “We need to get better at treating this like a business . . . like Prime, but with human beings.”
The Pentagon has accordingly granted ICE access to a program that will allow it to bypass competitive bidding with contractors and expedite the construction process.
In 1988, Ronald Reagan signed an act apologizing for the World War II internment of Japanese Americans. How can we possibly be going down that disastrous road again?