Readers React: WWII camp survivor: Immigrant detention centers are worse than 1940s internment

To the editor: Thank you for the revealing article that compared an immigrant detention center in Texas to the World War II prison camps, where 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were incarcerated. (“‘What happened in World War II is happening again’: Immigrant detention centers through the eyes of a therapist,” April 11)

I am a former prisoner at one of those camps; my memories are clear. There were 5-foot-tall barbed-wire fences, and armed military guards prevented escape. Inside, the camp had a family-oriented community environment with little supervision by the guards.

This February, I went to the “family detention center” in Dilley, Texas, to see for myself what was going on. I was shocked.

The fence is 10 feet tall, and the cameras mounted on them provide a virtual barrier of another 10 feet. Inside, the Central American mothers and children are subject to a very high level of supervision. The lights are on all day and night, children walk in formation to schools, and there are high-density sleeping quarters with frequent bed checks. A private company operates this facility.

Today’s detention centers for immigrants are not “just like” the World War II camps. They are much worse.

Sam Mihara, Huntington Beach

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