Read About This GOP State Senator’s ‘Barbaric’ Idea For Handling Syrian Refugees

Elaine Morgan at the Charlestown Public Works (image courtesy Morgan's Facebook)
Elaine Morgan at the Charlestown Public Works (image courtesy Morgan’s Facebook)

We all know about the Big Brotherish and inhumane ideas that some Republicans have proposed for dealing with the influx of Syrian refugees. Well, it’s not much better at the state level. A Republican state senator in Rhode Island told a constituent that any refugees that come to this country should be placed in refugee camps. Her idea for those camps draws disturbing parallels to one of the most outrageous and inhumane incidents of World War II.

Elaine Morgan is in her first term representing the 34th state senate district, which comprises all or part of four towns in southern Rhode Island. Last week, WPRI-TV in Providence got its hands on an email that Morgan intended to send to a constituent, but was accidentally CC’d to several of her state senate colleagues. Morgan wrote that she didn’t want any more Syrian refugees in Rhode Island because “our country is under attack.”

Morgan claimed several Middle Eastern countries were in cahoots to send as many of their residents to this country as possible “to attack all non Muslim persons,” since the “Muslim religion and philosophy” commands Muslims to “murder, rape, and decapitate” all non-Muslims. Morgan suggested that if Governor Gina Raimondo had to take in more Syrian refugees, “we should set up (a) refugee camp to keep them segregated from our populous (sic).”

When called out on her letter, Morgan kept digging herself a hole. She claimed that she only meant to attack “the fanatical Muslim religion and philosophy,” and didn’t get a chance to edit her email before sending it. Supposedly, Morgan had just bought a new smartphone, and was still getting the hang of its voice transcription capability. However, she continued to double down on her refugee camp idea. She admitted funneling refugees into camps may sound “a little barbaric” to some people. However, she felt that “we need to centralize them (the refugees)” for security reasons.

What Morgan is proposing sounds frighteningly similar to one of the biggest black eyes in this country’s history–the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. The rationale behind this horribly misguided policy was that Japanese-Americans were not truly loyal to this country, and were thus likely to take part in anti-American sabotage. Congressman Mike Honda of California was quick to make the connection. Honda spent a large chunk of his youth in an internment camp, and denounced Morgan and a number of other “extremist perpetrators” for even suggesting such an idea.

Morgan tried to put out the fire in a lengthy statement. She claimed that she only wanted to set up “a federal immigration center,” not an internment camp. So you’d have us to believe that was a transcription error as well, Elaine? Don’t insult our intelligence.

According to Daily Kos’ exhaustive database of election data, Obama only won Morgan’s district 54-42. I say “only” because this was actually Obama’s third-lowest margin in the state. However, when you consider that Mitt Romney is the kind of Republican who did well in New England before the Bill Clinton era, that margin looks like a rout.

Granted, southern Rhode Island is not as heavily Democratic as Providence and Pawtucket–indeed, of the five Republicans in the state senate, all but one represent districts in the southern part of the state. However, this is Yankee Republican territory, and I find it hard to believe this district’s residents would be too keen on having their senator spew this kind of unhinged bigotry. They’ll have a chance to get rid of her in 2016; Rhode Island state senators serve two-year terms.

Even without this to consider, Morgan is a piece of work. According to her personal Facebook page, she is a fan of Oath Keepers, the far-right group of retired and active-duty servicemen and law enforcement officers who will not obey orders they deem unconstitutional. That same group gained infamy for roaming through Ferguson with assault weapons at the ready. They also had plans to provide a “security detail” for Kim Davis until Davis’ legal team thought better of it. She’s also a fan of the NRA, Ben Carson, and Donald Trump.

Simply put, Morgan is way, way, way too conservative for this district. Fortunately, the woman whom she defeated in 2014, Cathie Cool Rumsey, has already announced she will seek a rematch in 2016. Let’s hope that Rumsey does succeed in sending Morgan packing in 2016. This district deserves better.

Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.