A heated debate erupted on CNN this week regarding the Trump administration’s immigration policies and recent ICE raids, during which a panelist accused the government of “kidnapping” migrants and transporting them to “concentration camps.”
The exchange took place between former MSNBC host Tiffany Cross and New York Post editor-at-large Kelly Jane Torrance. The discussion followed a Monday incident where heavily armed federal officers, some on horseback, descended on MacArthur Park in Los Angeles and were met by angry protesters.
Cross criticized the administration’s handling of immigration, arguing that the public is “normalizing a government agency disappearing people.” She referred to ICE detention centers as “concentration camps,” stating, “We’re talking about it like it’s no big deal that they are kidnapping people and transporting them to concentration camps, both domestic and foreign.”
Torrance challenged Cross’s use of the term “concentration camps,” calling it “insulting to Jewish Holocaust survivors.” Cross pushed back, stating, “I find it insulting that you could even fix your mouth to defend this disgusting behavior.” When Torrance asked if the detention centers have “gas ovens,” Cross responded, “It doesn’t matter! It’s a concentration camp what they’re doing.”
Cross also argued that less than 10% of those detained had committed harsh crimes, accusing the administration of “disappearing people” under the guise of targeting serious offenders.
The debate became personal when Torrance questioned where people were disappearing. Torrance stated she was not “defending” the administration but wanted to be “accurate” in her rhetoric.
Near the end of the exchange, Cross told Torrance she hoped she would look back at the conversation and realize she was on the “wrong side of history.”
MacArthur Park Incident and Other Developments
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass described the situation at MacArthur Park as “absolutely outrageous,” noting that federal officers arrived while more than 20 kids were playing nearby. Mayor Bass went to the park immediately to demand the situation “end NOW.”
In a separate incident, 10 people were charged with attempted murder of federal agents and gun crimes after allegedly conducting a “planned ambush” on officers outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas.
As the Trump administration increases immigration arrests, more Americans are witnessing people being hauled off during everyday activities like shopping, exercising, and dining out. These aggressive raids have prompted many Americans, even those who rarely engage in civil disobedience, to record the actions on their phones and launch impromptu protests.
