- There's a system of detention centers
at our southern border housing thousands of asylum seekers
from Central and South America.
When Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
called these facilities concentration camps,
she sparked outrage and a huge debate.
- The United States is running concentration camps
on our southern border.
- People on the right and the left
spoke out against her comments,
arguing that under no circumstances
should we invoke the memory of the Holocaust
to describe what's happening at our border.
So what is the definition of a concentration camp?
To understand what has historically been considered
a concentration camp, we looked to the experts.
Historians Andrea Pitzer and Jonathan Hyslop
have both written books on the matter.
Now, of course, the Holocaust is one of the worst tragedies
and injustices the world has ever seen.
But Pitzer and Hyslop agree that
the concept of concentration camps predates World War II.
In 1896 Spanish forces held Cuban civilians as prisoners
during a rebellion; over 100,000 people died.
In 1899 American forces held women and children captive
in the Philippines.
In 1900 the British government
operated concentration camps in Southern Africa.
Terrible conditions in those camps
let to the deaths of thousands of children.
Merriam-Webster defines the term as
"a place where large numbers of people
(such as prisoners of war, political prisoners,
refugees, or members of an ethnic or religious minority)
are detained or confined under armed guard."
The large numbers of people at our border
are often described as illegal immigrants.
But many of them aren't illegal at all.
According to international law,
if you arrive at the border seeking asylum,
you are legally allowed a hearing.
Going back to our definition of concentration camps,
this would define the migrants,
legal or illegal, as refugees.
According to Pitzer, concentration camps
are defined by poor living conditions
that often lead to illness or death.
So far under Trump's presidency,
24 migrants have died in ICE custody,
many of them due to health-related issues.
Recent reports on the conditions of these facilities
are horrifying.
The Associated Press reported on June 20
that "250 infants, children, and teens"
were locked up for a month "without adequate food,
water, and sanitation."
At the same station, three girls reportedly took turns
taking care of a sick 2-year-old boy
because no one else would.
At other facilities on the border,
migrants describe their living quarters
as "ice boxes" because of how cold they were,
and "dog pounds" for how they were treated.
And as we all remember,
children were being separated from their parents
at these facilities just last year.
Now, of course, there are aspects
of the Nazi concentration camps
that simply cannot be compared
to the situation at the border.
But Pitzer says that mass killings and forced labor
are not requirements for the term to be used.
So, yes, the situation at the border
is in line with the definition of a concentration camp.
But there's another telltale sign, too.
According to Jonathan Hyslop,
the concept of concentration camps
are tied the idea of martial law.
He told Esquire that the historical examples
of concentration camps involve the oppressors
overriding any sense of rights in the civilian population.
The idea is that the conditions we've maintained
at the border are justified
because we are facing an emergency.
And indeed, in an attempt to access
billions of dollars in funds for his border wall,
President Trump declared our border situation
a national emergency.
When the rhetoric used to describe the influx of migrants
includes words like invasion,
this only helps justify the administration's actions.
And that's why it's important
to call these detention centers what they are.
For many people, the term concentration camp
is too emotionally charged.
But if we don't call these detention centers
concentration camps,
then we haven't learned anything useful
from the history of concentration camps.
One way to give ourselves urgency and to help mitigate
the deplorable conditions at the border
is to call things out for what they are.