David Bowers’ Internment Camps For Syrian Refugees Plan Sparks Backlash
Roanoke Mayor David Bowers has suggested an internment proposal to quarantine Syrian refugees who enter the United States. Similar internment camps was created to house Japanese and Germans foreign nationals and residents during World War II. President Franklin Roosevelt quarantined more than 100,000 citizens over the course of three years during the war as a preemptive defense measure.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, during World War II, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that President Franklin D. Roosevelt did have the power to prosecute Japanese American citizens who refused to enter internment camps. Roosevelt assumed such power via the signing of an executive order.
VA mayor’s appalling statement uses Japanese internment to deny refugees https://t.co/99vIA28SwS #WeNeedAAPIStudies pic.twitter.com/ChpSlGWsXN
— AAJC (@AAAJ_AAJC) November 19, 2015
Mayor David Bowers believes that the Syrian refugees should be treated in the same “cautious” manner as the German and Japanese residents, Business Insider reports.
“I’m reminded that President Franklin D. Roosevelt felt compelled to sequester Japanese foreign nationals after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and it appears that threat of harm to America from ISIS now is just as real and serious as that from enemies then,” David Bowers said.
The national Democratic party quickly criticized David Bowers’ internment proposal, the Roanoke Times notes. Leaders of the state party said that Bowers’ statements about Syrian refugees and internment camps do not represent the beliefs of the party. They stated that what happened to the Japanese during World War II was “cruel.”
Mayor rejects Syrian refugees, says America should follow model of Japanese internment https://t.co/ld6Je18XwR pic.twitter.com/scSUuStTup
— ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) November 18, 2015
Democratic National Committee Chair Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz and California Representative Mike Honda, a Japanese-American who was interned during World War II, issued a joint statement condemning the David Bowers’ internment of Syrian refugees proposal.
“Mayor Bowers’ comments about Japanese internment do not represent the values of the Democratic Party, and his rhetoric has no place in our party,” Wasserman Schultz and Honda said in the Democratic Party release.
Roanoke City Council members reportedly attempted to “neutralize the damage” from David Bowers’ internment camp statement, which he made without telling them in advance. His Syrian refugees proposal was deemed “childish,” “selfish,” “juvenile,” “irrational,” and “narcissistic.” It was also believed to be a publicity stunt to turn the spotlight on himself since he’s not seeking another term in office.
As reported by the Inquisitr, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia believes that internment camps can happen again in America. Scalia, the longest-serving justice on the high court, also stated that the nation’s highest court would uphold such camps. Scalia made the shocking comments while speaking to a University of Hawaii law school class, Case Law reports.
Justice Scalia had this to say during the discussion about the Japanese internment camp issue, which sparked a lawsuit in 1944.
“Well of course Korematsu was wrong. And I think we have repudiated in a later case. But you are kidding yourself if you think the same thing will not happen again. [Panic] that’s what was going on. The panic about the war and the invasion of the Pacific and whatnot. That’s what happens. It was wrong, but I would not be surprised to see it happen again in time of war. It’s no justification, but it is the reality.”
The Korematsu vs. the United States was initiated in 1942 after federal law enforcement officers ordered individuals of Japanese descent along the West Coast to move into “assembly centers” or relocation camps for national security reasons. The relocation order was seen by many as another version of the concentration camps American soldiers were liberating victims from in Germany.
What do you think about the David Bowers’ internment camp proposal? Do Syrian refugees pose a national security threat?
[Image via AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File]
