Rep. Ilhan Omar has argued that US immigrant detention centers fit the definition of concentration camps, eliciting both applause and eye-rolling on social media as debate over immigration continues to polarize the country.
Omar (D-MN) made the remarks after being asked by a reporter if she agreed with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) assertion that the White House is operating “concentration camps” on the border with Mexico.
“There are camps and people are being concentrated,” Omar replied. “This is very simple. I don’t even know why this is a controversial thing for her to say.”
Her argument faced mockery on social media, with some Twitter users expressing bafflement over the congresswoman’s line of reasoning. One netizen surmised that, by Omar’s definition, every police station in America with a holding cell could be considered a “concentration camp.”
Describing US detention centers as “concentration camps” – a term usually associated with the infamous camps established by Nazi Germany – is yet another example of poor argumentation by the Democrats, another member of the Twitterati mused.
Still, many insisted that Omar was completely correct, arguing that the detention centers, where at least 24 migrants have died in ICE custody since Donald Trump took office, fit the dictionary definition of concentration camps.
Omar has been one of the most vocal critics of the Trump administration’s immigration policy. The lawmaker recently re-tweeted a video clip in which a CNN commentator warned that the US was on the road to operating “death camps.”
Her colleague, Ocasio-Cortez, urged supporters in a social media post last week to oppose Donald Trump’s “fascist presidency,” describing the government’s immigrant detention facilities as “concentration camps.”
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