The Office of Refugee Resettlement on Tuesday said they plan to use Fort Sill, an active Army base near Lawton, Okla. as a location for a temporary shelter to house migrant children as existing shelters are overwhelmed.
Here is what some media outlets chose to focus on:
The Huffington Post: Trump Administration to Detain Migrant Children On Site of WWII Japanese Inter
Rolling Stone: Why Are Migrant Children Being Housed at the Site of a World War II Internment Camp
TIME: Trump Administration to Hold Migrant Children at Base That Served as WWII Japanese Internment Camp
The Daily Beast: Trump Admin to Use Army Base That Once Served as Japanese Internment Camp to House 1,400 Migrant Kids
The Hill: Trump administration to send migrant children to Army base once used as
CBS News and ABC News did not mention Fort Sill was a site of a Japanese internment camp in the headline but did mention it in their articles. The Associated Press, to their credit, made no mention of it at all.
Why do some in the media believe Fort Sill’s history as the site of a Japanese internment camp during World War II is relevant to today? It is not remotely the same thing. The Japanese internment, a stain on our history, was the government forcibly removing Japanese from their homes, many of whom were citizens and many who were born here, to relocate them out of fear they might conspire with Japan.
Housing migrant children who come across our border illegally with their parents or alone until they decide their status is not the same thing. Fort Sill which serves as a training facility for artillery units has vacant barracks and structures. Would the left and the media who spout their talking points rather these kids be housed in tents or stay in overwhelmed shelters?
Also, the Obama administration utilized Fort Sill in 2014 for the same reason as the Trump administration has for using it now.
Certainly, it was controversial, but looking at stories I could find from the time, there is no mention of the base’s history. Roll Call did not mention it. Reuters did not mention it either. Politico and CNN did not either and nary a peep from the New York Times.
Apparently, that information was not “relevant” in 2014.