Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) on Monday compared the Trump administration’s attempts to control the flow of migrants across the southern border to the systematic extermination of millions in the Holocaust.
“The U.S. is running concentration camps on our southern border and that is exactly what they are. That is exactly what they are. They are concentration camps,” the freshman Democrat said during an Instagram livestream.
“The fact that concentrations camps are now an institutionalized practice in the Home of the Free is extraordinarily disturbing and we need to do something about it,” she continued.
Ocasio-Cortez falsely claims Trump is operating concentration camps, compares the situation to the Holocaust: “The U.S. is running concentration camps on our southern border and that is exactly what they are. … ‘Never Again’ means something … we need to do something about it” pic.twitter.com/F2MmZ8y2dT
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) June 18, 2019
Ocasio-Cortez went on to invoke the phrase “never again,” which is typically used in connection with Holocaust rememberance. She later defended her “concentration camp” comparison on Twitter, but appeared to distance herself from the Holocaust in particular by sharing an article that uses a broader definition of what constitutes a concentration camp.
This administration has established concentration camps on the southern border of the United States for immigrants, where they are being brutalized with dehumanizing conditions and dying.
This is not hyperbole. It is the conclusion of expert analysis ⬇️https://t.co/2dWHxb7UuL
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 18, 2019
Conditions at migrant detention centers along the Souther border have steadily eroded in recent months as record numbers of asylum-seekers, many of whom are women and children, have overwhelmed Department of Health and Human Services resources.
Trump administration officials have repeatedly urged Congress to provide more funding for the provision of shelter and medical care to the migrants, but the requests have gone largely unanswered due to partisan infighting over how much will be spent on enforcement verses humanitarian aid.
Majority leader Mitch McConnell announced Monday that he plans to hold a vote next week on legislation that would provide $4.5 billion in additional funding to address the situation at the border.
“I’m going to bring it up freestanding next week and see if they really aren’t interested in dealing with this mass of humanity that we have to take care of at the border,” McConnell said in an interview with Fox News. “What’s the objection? This is not about the wall but about the humanitarian crisis.”
McConnell went on to scold his Democratic colleagues for their reflexive opposition to any immigration-related legislation supported by Republicans.