I think I've decided that I need to separate out "concentration camps" from the larger fascist mass deportation story, because given the sheer amount of funding for migrant cages provided by the GOP's recently passed, homicidal-class war reconciliation budget, I think it's very unlikely "Alligator Alcatraz" will be a one-off. As such I'm going to link my previous post about why the facility in Florida is definitely a concentration camp here, so we can reference it going forward.

AnarchoNinaAnalyzes (@AnarchoNinaAnalyzes@treehouse.systems)

I think there is a larger conversation to be had about the crass, ignorant, and dystopian "game show" style of fascism the Trump regime is installing in America; a situation perfectly exemplified by the emergency construction of a migrant concentration camp on an abandoned airfield in the Florida Everglades, affectionately marketed (with actual merchandise) as "Alligator Alcatraz." It says a lot about what lies at the rotting core of Trumpism that in the implementation of its fascist policies, the regime always finds a way to surpass satirists in Hollywood and the fever dreams of authors like Hunter S. Thompson, in terms of theatrical cruelty, open greed, and complete disregard for human decency. As such, I understand why the outrage in response to the construction and implementation of what amounts to a dollar store knock off version of torture prisons like CECOT, has been focused on the outrageous pageantry Downmarket Mussolini, Ronny DeSantis, and the American fascist movement are engaged in to cover up the fact that we've just build a domestic "Gitmo" and the guy running it is a former Bush War on Terror lawyer with a very checkered past on the subjects of human rights and torture. The reality however is that "Alligator Alcatrez" (that is the official name of the gulag) is very clearly a concentration camp, designed to torture migrants as part of a slow-motion ethnic cleansing project to whiten the demographics of the USA. Furthermore, the evidence that this is so goes far beyond Trump's obscene comments about alligators eating escaped migrants, as Florida Republicans have openly touted the idea that exposure to hurricanes might make migrants self-deport to avoid being sent there - which a responsible media would recognize as US politicians arguing "death by hurricane" is an acceptable punishment for the civil violation of being in the country without papers. In fact, this alarming idea is literally baked into the second half of the dungeon's name; Alcatraz was a maximum security federal prison ostensibly designed to house "the worst felons in America," while Alligator Alcatraz is a giant torture cage for brown people on the wrong side of an imaginary line - the conflation is intentional on the part of the fascist politicians behind this monstrous scheme. Given the clear intentions behind opening our very own concentration camp in the Florida Everglades, the men behind the plan, and their open statements about why Alligator Alcatraz was built, it shouldn't surprise anyone that we're already getting reports of widespread human rights violations out of the facility. https://www.commondreams.org/news/alligator-alcatraz-human-rights 'A Form of Torture': Detainees Allege Mistreatment at 'Alligator Alcatraz' "They're not respecting our human rights," one detainee told CBS News Miami during a phone interview. "We're human beings; we're not dogs. We're like rats in an experiment." "I don't know their motive for doing this, if it's a form of torture," he added. "A lot of us have our residency documents and we don't understand why we're here." Another inmate, the Cuban reggaeton artist Leamsy La Figura, said guards "only brought a meal once a day and it had maggots." "They never take off the lights for 24 hours," he claimed. "The mosquitoes are as big as elephants," and "there's no water to take a bath, it's been four days since I've taken a bath." A Colombian detainee said his mental health is breaking down. "I'm on the edge of losing my mind. I've gone three days without taking my medicine," he said. "It's impossible to sleep with this white light that's on all day." "They took the Bible I had and they said here there is no right to religion," the detainee added. "And my Bible is the one thing that keeps my faith, and now I'm losing my faith." So, let's be clear what we're talking about here. The fascist Florida government purposely built a concentration camp in the middle of a hurricane alley swamp, to facilitate the fascist Trump regime's ethnic cleansing project. And now, we're treating people who may be guilty of nothing more than a civil violation like War on Terror prisoners at Gitmo. We've had entire hearings about the effects of restricting access to food, shower facilities, and medicine because this is what our government did to suspected terrorists during the one of the darkest moments of modern American history. We know leaving the lights on 24/7 to deny prisons adequate rest and a sense of passing time is a type of torture because we purposely did that "to root out Al-Qaeda." You know who else knows? Ron fucking DeSantis, the former Bush era JAG who worked AT Gitmo. In other words? We have built a concentration camp for brown people and we are now intentionally torturing them. In the United States of America. While bragging about it and selling T-shirts to celebrate it. Tell me again why it's wrong to compare Trump's new America to Nazi Germany? #Fascism #Trump #RonDeSantis #ConcentrationCamps #AlligatorAlcatraz #GOP

Treehouse Mastodon (social.treehouse.systems)

Alligators, Concentration Camps, and Theatrical Fascism

"So, let's be clear what we're talking about here. The fascist Florida government purposely built a concentration camp in the middle of a hurricane alley swamp, to facilitate the fascist Trump regime's ethnic cleansing project. And now, we're treating people who may be guilty of nothing more than a civil violation like War on Terror prisoners at Gitmo."

I must confess I am discouraged by the alarming countercurrent in US discourse, pushing back on the idea that "Alligator Alcatraz" is an "actual" concentration camp. Some of this is fascist ideological flak, some is "enlightened centrists" whistling past the graveyard, and some of this is even coming from cynical folks on the left who know enough about the American carceral industrial complex to confidently (and to be fair, correctly) state America had "concentration camps" long before Trump. Frankly however I can think of few things less productive than entering into a semantic debate about the wholly accurate term concentration camp; I thought it might be better to just talk about the horrifying observed conditions inside Alligator Alcatraz instead, and let reasonable folks figure it out for themselves.

To that end I want to share two stories about the same highly-controlled visit to Alligator Alcatraz by 3 Dem politicians, that each focus on different aspects of why I think the term fits and disputing the characterization borders on apologia.

Hundreds of detainees with no criminal charges sent to Trump’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’

Authorities have refused to release list of people sent there as Democratic lawmakers decry ‘inhumane’ conditions

the Guardian (www.theguardian.com)

Hundreds of detainees with no criminal charges sent to Trump’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’

"The notorious new “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration jail in the Florida Everglades contains hundreds of detainees with no criminal records or charges, it was disclosed on Sunday, as lawmakers decried “inhumane” conditions inside after touring the facility.

Donald Trump has insisted that the remote camp in swamp land populated by pythons and alligators was reserved for immigrants who were “deranged psychopaths” and “some of the most vicious people on the planet” awaiting deportation.

But at least one detainee shouted out to politicians during Saturday’s visit that he was a US citizen, the Democratic Florida congressman Maxwell Frost said. And the Miami Herald obtained and published a list of 700 people held in cages showing that at least 250 had committed no offense other than a civil immigration violation."

So let's briefly touch on the important revelations in this article. First of all immigration officials are purposely obscuring the numbers and identities of detainees in the camp. Florida politicians are also lying about who runs the camp, which is clearly ICE, to deny opposition (Democrat) oversight of the facility. Please keep in mind that this is in addition to the migrant cages being located in a remote area in the Florida Everglades, far away from the prying eyes of the media and making official oversight all the more difficult. Furthermore, Trump and regime officials who are justifying keeping migrants in appalling conditions that amount to a concentration camp by saying only the worst types of criminals are being held at Alligator Alcatraz, are once again lying; as I stated repeatedly in prior articles hundreds of people in the camp are simply in the US without permission, which as the article notes is a civil violation, not a criminal charge - let alone a violent one.

So, can you articulate what perfectly innocent reason a fascist government might have for building a semi-secret migrant cage complex, demonizing all the brown inhabitants as violent criminals even though many of them have committed no crimes, and are actively working to hide what is actually going on inside Alligator Alcatraz from media, regulators, and opposition officials? Yeah, me neither. Now let's take a look at the conditions the 3 Dem politicians were allowed to see despite the regime's efforts to hide occupied cages from them:

403 Forbidden

(www.commondreams.org)

'This Is an Internment Camp': Lawmakers Horrified by Inhumane Conditions in 'Alligator Alcatraz'

"Wasserman-Schultz described it as an "internment camp" where detainees are "essentially packed into cages."

"Wall-to-wall humans. 32 detainees per cage," she said. This, she noted, is unusual for immigration facilities, like the nearby Krome detention center in Miami-Dade County, where detainees are allowed to roam freely between buildings."

Whatever I think of Debbie Wasserman-Schultz as a politician, it is inarguable that she's objectively describing a type of concentration camp. With dozens of brown bodies packed into small cages, inadequate access to washroom facilities and water, purposely reduced caloric counts inadequate for the preservation of healthy adults, exposure to elements and insects; what exactly would you call it? It's not an accident Wasserman-Schultz references America's dark history with the term "interment camps" but I think she's still being too generous to the Trump regime here; this is a camp of cages for cruelty concentrating migrants without any concern for their wellbeing at all - a concentration camp if you will.

Folks, this is not a question of semantics. This is a concentration camp, for brown people, on US soil and word games aren't going to stop the nightmare we're speeding towards now.

#Fascism #Trump #DHS #AlligatorAlcatraz #Noem #EthnicCleansing #Immigration #ConcentrationCamps