Muslims fear internment because mainstream politicians have proposed it

Evidence

The USA PATRIOT Act brought back some of the language surrounding patriotism that was used to justify the internment of Japanese and Japanese Americans during World War II (Cole 2003). Specifically, the language used in the Enemy Alien Act, enacted in 1798, gives the president the authority to deport, detain, or expel any citizen of a country at war with the United States (Cole 2003). This act was a precursor to the internment of Japanese noncitizens and citizens alike. Muslims recognize that if another terrorist attack on the scale of the 9/11 occurs on American soil again, they could be detained and deported without due process or even interned. These anxieties are not unfounded. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States and for Muslims to wear ID cards. After a terrorist attack in Nice, France, in 2016 former house leader Newt Gingrich said all Muslims in America should have to take a test to see if they believed in sharia law and that all who fail this test should be deported out of the United States (Etehad 2016). On June 5, 2017, Fox News contributor Nigel Farage suggested there may be a need for internment camps for Muslims after a terrorist attack in London, England. — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 572

Categorization

• QUESTION: The Enemy Alien Act / PATRIOT act comparison could open a legal-history piece on how often the 1798 act has been invoked.
• SHARE: Nigel Farage floating internment camps in 2017 is a stark, citable data point for someone tracking mainstreaming of detention rhetoric.
• XREF: connects to: Patriot Act language echoes statutes that enabled Japanese internment — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 572