Mark Krikorian, the executive director of the immigration restrictionist group Center for Immigration studies, suggested in multiple media appearances last week that President Trump should erect tent cities to house the Central Americans currently traveling in a caravan through Mexico in the hopes of seeking refuge in Mexico or the U.S.
Krikorian made the suggestion in an interview on “Hannity” last Monday and elaborated the next morning in an interview with the Washington, D.C., radio station WMAL.
“This is an opportunity for the president to try to communicate that this is not something we’re going to tolerate,” Krikorian said. “So one thing he might be able to do is set up tent cities where these people, if they come across, they’re detained immediately so they never get more than a mile from the border. Use, if necessary, Defense Department funds for that. That’s what we did 20-plus years ago when a lot of Cubans and Haitians came, we built a tent city in Guantanamo. So it can be stopped, this is a test and an opportunity for the administration to show that it’s not all bluster, that there really is something behind their talk.”
The Guantanamo tent city that Krikorian referred to as a model housed thousands of people in harsh conditions.
