GOP Candidate Argues For WWII-Style Internment Camps

by Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano · 2010-08-17 06:50:00 UTC
Topics:

It looks like the U.S. no longer wants to be a “nation of immigrants.” Not if you ask GOP candidate for Florida's House of Representatives, Marg Baker, anyway. Actually, Baker is going one step further in her anti-immigrant vitriol. Not content to simply back racial profiling initiatives like Arizona’s SB 1070, Baker is proposing something that by contrast makes such laws look tepid.

Baker's solution to undocumented immigration? Internment camps.

Baker’s clumsily articulated plan was unveiled during remarks she made before Glen Beck’s activist group 9-12 Project. Responding to a question regarding how to reform immigration, Baker responded, “We can follow what happened back in the 40’s or 50’s… they built camps for the people that snuck into the country because they were illegal. They put them in the camps and they shipped them back.”

No joke here.

In a follow-up interview with Salon.com, Baker expressed concern that her words had been misconstrued, and tried to clarify her point. But instead of taking her words back, Baker simply reiterated her previous message — and detailed sentiments that were likewise horrifying.

Okay, to be fair, Baker did stress that she's not suggesting “some sort of prison camps like over in Germany.” But she does apparently think that World War II's Japanese American internment camps are a fine model to emulate.

Baker says that the only ones she wants to detain are "the ones who are illegal,” rather than U.S. citizens. Apparently to Baker, the only thing wrong about the Japanese internment camps was the fact that they imprisoned US. citizens. Huh.

Still, though, her plan should come to no surprise to anyone who's read her platform — which includes the line “Illegal aliens: ‘0’ Tolerance!!!” What's more, Baker also makes a point of listing the reasons why we should “not tolerate illegal aliens.” Among these reasons? Prostitution and more.

According to Baker, we should “ship them [undocumented immigrants] out to the middle of the country and put up high walls and leave them there.” In an evident nod to humanitarian concerns, Baker insists that the camps should include basic living conditions like places to sleep, eat and fresh air. However, she warns that we should not “make them too comfortable or they'll want to come back.” After all, isn’t risking one’s life to end up imprisoned in a 5-star internment camp the immigrant dream?

Photo Credit: Vincent Desjardins

Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano is the Associate Director of Justice Matters and has previously worked in queer communities of color in the South and Southwest.
PREVIOUS STORY:
What's the Least Sexy Aid Project You Can Think Of?
NEXT STORY:
A letter from Bettina Siegel, "Pink Slime" petition creator

COMMENTS (1)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.