Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) isn’t backing down after backlash over her remark that “the United States is running concentration camps on our southern border.” Today she told NBC News (watch above) that “I’m absolutely comfortable using that term because it’s rooted in an academic definition.” But that may not be enough to satisfy people like acting ICE Director Mark Morgan.
NEW: Acting @ICEgov Director Mark Morgan blasts @AOC comparison of migrant detention centers to concentration camps: "Its completely inappropriate, it's reckless, it's irresponsible, it's misinformed, and it's flat out wrong" https://t.co/AXuIN72jZ9 pic.twitter.com/B6pfc43E5C
— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) June 18, 2019
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Ocasio-Cortez also went back and forth about the terminology on Twitter.
Hey Rep. Cheney, since you’re so eager to “educate me,” I’m curious:
What do YOU call building mass camps of people being detained without a trial?
How would you dress up DHS’s mass separation of thousands children at the border from their parents? https://t.co/OOfrrfa1Ew
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 18, 2019
The freshman Congresswoman also said:
For the shrieking Republicans who don’t know the difference: concentration camps are not the same as death camps. Concentration camps are considered by experts as “the mass detention of civilians without trial.” And that’s exactly what this administration is doing.
Concentration camps are not the same as death camps. This is an important distinction. One of the biggest lessons from that dark history is that it didn’t happen overnight. It emerged out of slow, increasingly concerning steps that acclimated the public to inhumane treatment.
And several people agreed with this distinction.
AOC: Close Concentration Camps!
GOP: Study history—they’re NOT Concentration Camps
Historians: Yes they are
GOP: No—ask Japanese
Japanese: Yes they are
GOP: No—ask Jews
Jews: Yes they are
GOP: No—we simply detain large numbers of refugees under armed guard
Dictionary: ? pic.twitter.com/reh0x5NuHu
— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@QasimRashid) June 19, 2019
I know what concentration camps are. I was inside two of them, in America. And yes, we are operating such camps again.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) June 19, 2019
One person who isn’t ready to support or condemn the comments is the Speaker of the House.
.@SpeakerPelosi says she hasn’t talked with @AOC about her controversial comment on concentration camps, but she cautions the full Democratic caucus ‘about how politically charged the atmosphere is,’ with opponents poised to exploit the words they say. #MonitorBreakfast pic.twitter.com/W0bkmYo15M
— Susan Page (@SusanPage) June 19, 2019