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The Trump government has opened a new immigration camp in Texas on the site of a former internment camp for Japanese. A step that triggered outrage among politicians, activists and descendants of the survivors of the program from the Second World War.
“Annoying parallels” to the past
Fort Bliss, a military base in El Paso, is said to be the largest nationwide detention center. Around 1,000 people are currently imprisoned. But the capacity should increase to 5,000. The warehouse is operated via private contracts that cost more than one billion dollars. It also serves as the basis for deportation fees.
The provisional tent camp is reminiscent of the notorious “Alligator Alcatraz” in Florida, which will soon be closed according to judicial order. As in Texas, imprisoned people suffer from extreme temperatures and impending heat damage.
The Texas MP Jasmine Crockett said in a statement that there were “disturbing parallels” to the Japanese internations in Fort Bliss. “Texas knows this story too well. And we refuse to be repeated.”
The detention center, officially called “Camp East Montana” and referred to by Republicans as “Lone Star Lockup”, is “a calculated step to militarize immigration policy. To reduce transparency. And to accelerate deportation without accounting,” said the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
History of Fort Bliss and current criticism
As early as 1942, Fort Bliss recorded up to 91 people of Japanese, German and Italian origin. According to the Densho encyclopedia project, the site was secured with barbed wire and watchtowers. “Most of the time it was Japanese-born first generation-Americans who were interned early in World War II and later brought to other camps,” said Derrek Tomine, President of the National Japanese American Historical Society.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Roosevelt government interned more than 120,000 people of Japanese origin-many of them. Roosevelt referred to the “Alien Enemies Act”, which Trump also used to send alleged Venezuelan gang members to a torture prison to El Salvador.
Ann Burroughs, President of the Japanese American National Museum, warned: “It is unimaginable that the United States builds concentration camp again and ignore the teachings of 80 years ago.”
Historical parallels and today’s consequences
Historian Brian Niiya from the Densho project emphasized to the USA Today: “It is important to look at the past to understand what happens today-and what the consequences could be.” His grandfather was the editor of a Japanese newspaper and was recorded in six different internment camps during the war.
Fort Bliss already played a role in mass disks: In 1914, around 4,500 Mexican refugees were interned there during the revolution. Under President Biden, the system was used in 2021 to accommodate unaccompanied children. An investigation in 2022 showed that many children suffered panic attacks and anxiety.
The Ministry of Homeland (DHS) rejects comparisons with the internment camps of the Second World War. “Such comparisons are absurd and lazy,” said DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin.
Demands for closure
“We are calling for the immediate closure of Camp East Montana,” said Samantha Singleton from Border Network for Human Rights. The ACLU also warned of a dangerous expansion of the military role in immigration policy.
“It is a cruel, irresponsible and costly operation that started without a say in the local communities or elected representatives,” wrote Haddy Gassama from ACLU. “This is the trump government’s test run to check whether it can transform military resources into instruments for mass prisoners and deportation unnoticed.”
“It was a judge at the time – and it is again today,” Burroughs told “NBC News”.