Cable news people call them “prison camps” or “Trump prison camps,” but look in any dictionary: prisons are where people convicted of crimes are held. As Merriam-Webster notes, a prison is:

“[A]n institution for confinement of persons convicted of serious crimes.”

But what do you call a place where people who’ve committed no criminal offense (immigration violations are civil, not criminal, infractions)? The fine dictionary people at Merriam-Webster note the proper term is “concentration camp”:

“[A] place where large numbers of people (such as prisoners of war, political prisoners, refugees, or the members of an ethnic or religious minority) are detained or confined under armed guard.”

  • samus12345@sh.itjust.works
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    29 days ago

    look in any dictionary: prisons are where people convicted of crimes are held

    [A concentration camp is a] place where large numbers of people (such as prisoners of war, political prisoners…

    So these prisoners are not being held in a prison. English is silly sometimes.

    • Atomic@sh.itjust.works
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      29 days ago

      They’re also imprisoned. Though to be fair, all languages are silly sometimes.

      But a more accurate word to describe them might be captives, rather than prisoners. But both are correct