Wisconsin Rep. Gwen Moore Wednesday that she had just left an ICE detention facility in Leavenworth, Kansas, after checking on two Milwaukee women she called her constituents. According to Moore, the detainees said they were being treated well. However, she questioned why they remained in custody and described them as asylum seekers and mothers with no criminal records. Online users quickly focused on her use of the word “constituents.”
The clip shows Moore standing outside a gated facility lined with fencing and razor wire as she speaks to the camera. She says she is “just leaving the Midwest” and that “we spent a couple hours inside.” She then says, “The good news is that the people we visited said that they’re being treated like human beings,” before adding, “we can’t figure out why they’re here.”
In her post, Moore described the women as “asylum seekers and moms with no criminal records” and argued that financial incentives are driving ICE detention. She also cited $307,000 per bed.
That figure appears to come from CoreCivic’s recent sales of detention facilities to the federal government. The company’s CEO said the sales generated revenue equivalent to roughly $307,000 per bed. Moore’s office says the Leavenworth facility was recently sold to the Department of Homeland Security for $238 million, with CoreCivic continuing to operate it. The figure therefore should not be read as CoreCivic receiving $307,000 every time ICE fills a bed.
When “Constituents” Became the Story
Many replies focused on Moore’s use of the word “constituents.” One widely shared response asked, “How do you have ‘constituents’ who are illegal aliens? Are you admitting that illegals voted for you?”
Another wrote, “Constituents are voters. Illegals should not be voting or considered constituents.”
That claim, however, leaves out an important distinction. Constituents are not limited to registered voters or U.S. citizens. Moore was visiting women from Milwaukee, which is part of the Wisconsin district she represents. Calling someone a constituent does not mean that person voted for her.
That didn’t stop others from making the same connection. A third commenter wrote, “She says ‘my constituents’ but she really means ‘my illegal voters who keep my party and me in power’.”
Others simply argued, “They’re not your constituents,” while another said, “If they’re in ICE detention, they aren’t your constituents. Only US citizens are your constituents.”
Moore’s visit was intended to raise questions about ICE detention and the treatment of the Milwaukee women she went to see. Online, however, much of that discussion was overtaken by arguments about her use of “constituents.”
While critics questioned whether Moore should use the term for people being held by ICE, the word itself does not indicate that either woman voted for her. Their continued detention, and Moore’s criticism of the money being spent on the expanding detention system, remain separate issues.
