The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has criticized backlash to the opening of an immigration detention center at a former internment camp site as "deranged and lazy."
A DHS spokesperson in a statement to Newsweek hit out at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for the group's criticism of the Trump administration's plan to build an immigrant holding facility at Fort Bliss in Texas, which was among the sites used in World War II for internment of Japanese, German and Italian civilians.
"Comparisons of illegal alien detention centers to internment camps used during World War II are deranged and lazy," DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin told Newsweek in an email statement, in part.
Newsweek reached out to the ACLU via email on Friday afternoon for comment.
Why It Matters
The administration of President Donald Trump has worked to establish immigration detention centers to handle the thousands of people arrested in Trump's sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration.
The condition of the centers—most notably Alligator Alcatraz in Florida—have drawn sharp criticism. The facility was created quickly and can hold an estimated 1,000 beds, expected to cost the state about $450 million annually to operate.
The Fort Bliss facility, nicknamed Lone Star Lockup, will cost roughly $1.2 million to build and opened with 1,000 beds, with plans to increase in increments of 250 until reaching full capacity of 5,000 by 2027. Upon completion, the Fort Bliss site will be the largest federal detention center in U.S. history.
What To Know
The ACLU on Monday issued a statement on its website in which the group accused the administration of seeking to "militarize immigration enforcement, reduce transparency, and fast-track deportations with minimal accountability."
"Opening an immigration detention camp at Fort Bliss is just the latest step in President Donald Trump's dystopian plan to detain and deport millions," the group wrote.
"This coordinated use of the military to carry out a deportation agenda is unprecedented, and deeply dangerous. It's a tactic straight out of the authoritarian playbook, and we cannot let it go unchallenged," the civil rights organization added.
In her email to Newsweek, McLaughlin also wrote: "The ACLU's smears against our brave [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)] law enforcement are no doubt contributing to the more than 1,000 percent increase in assaults against them. Why does the American Civil Liberties Union care more about ILLEGAL ALIENS than U.S. citizens? They should change their name."
"The facts are ICE is targeting the worst of the worst—including murderers, MS-13 gang members, pedophiles, and rapists," McLaughlin continued. "70 percent of ICE arrests are of criminal illegal aliens who have been convicted or have pending charges in the U.S.—that doesn't even include known or suspected terrorists, foreign gang members, convictions for violent crimes in foreign countries, or INTERPOL notices."
Fort Bliss is among several sites in Texas that served as internment camps during World War II, according to Dr. Lila Rakoczy, former military sites program coordinator for the Texas Historical Commission and current education and outreach specialist for the Texas General Land Office.
In a presentation given in 2019 and preserved in transcript on the National Park Service website, Rakoczy named Fort Bliss alongside Crystal City, Seagoville, Kenedy and Dodd Field as the sites for internment camps.
The ACLU is not the only group that has criticized the administration for the Fort Bliss facility. The Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles in a post to its Facebook page warned that the rhetoric to justify mass incarceration and the usage of Fort Bliss carry "echoes" of a dark chapter in American history.
"It is inconceivable that the United States is once again building concentration camps, denying the lessons learned 80 years ago," the museum wrote.
Democratic U.S. Representative Jasmine Crockett of Texas visited Fort Bliss alongside members of the ACLU. She called the center a "dangerous misuse of military land and resources."
"This attempt doesn't make our country safer, it wastes taxpayer dollars, rips families apart, and takes us backwards as a nation," Crockett said following her visit.
"Texas knows this history all too well, and we refuse to let it happen again," the congresswoman added. "Instead of pouring millions into mass detention, we should be fixing our broken immigration system in ways that respect people's rights and dignity."
