I don’t know which upsets me more: the fact that the Bush Administration is starting to make non-criminal non-citizens wear electronic surveillance monitors on their ankles, or the fact that the “liberal” NPR’s website prominently features the story of an immigrant who’s “glad to be able to wear an ankle monitor.”
Beth, do you and J. have a couch I could stay on in your Montreal digs?
Added later. A commenter at Pharyngula points out: “In some fairness to NPR, I heard their story about those radio anklets today and they focused entirely on someone who was decidedly unhappy about wearing it — only mentioning at the end that people could go to their website to read about someone who was thrilled about being monitored in this way. It’s not perfect, but it’s not quite as unbalanced as just looking at the website would indicate.”
Added even later. In comments, Vicki gives the ol’ nuance vernier another twist: “After carefully listening to the NPR story again, it seems that at the present time the bracelet is being tried out on deportees who would otherwise be detained, as in locked up. If this is the case, then the bracelet looks a whole lot more humane than the alternative. The really chilling part, though, is at the end. The Immigration/Homeland Security guy is paraphrased as saying that, if the bracelets work, they might want to put them on everyone who’s applying to stay in the US. Whether that’s what he actually said, I don’t know, and whether he meant that every green card applicant, whatever his status or reason for staying, would bet a bracelet, I don’t know.”
Note:Many old comments were lost in a database crash in 2008. Some conversations may seem to make less sense than they would have. A few will make more sense now.
3 comments on "Apoplexy du jour."Yah, I felt the same way. I just had dinner with a couple of immigrants Monday night, and I was thinking of others I know — the thought of them having to wear electronic ankle monitors made me sick to my stomach. Same as trotting out some puppet to say how great it is. What a bunch of Nazis.
That’s absolutely incredible. And how racist is the list of countries whose citizens get offered this wonderful illustration of America’s “innocent until proven guilty” justice system? I’m trying to imagine how I’d feel if someone at Canadian immigration suggested such a thing to me. (And what the hell is going on at NPR, anyway? It’s becoming completely unrecognizeable.)
Bien sur, Chris, there’s always room for you, and Becky too!
After carefully listening to the NPR story again, it seems that at the present time the bracelet is being tried out on deportees who would otherwise be detained, as in locked up. If this is the case, then the bracelet looks a whole lot more humane than the alternative.
The really chilling part, though, is at the end. The Immigration/Homeland Security guy is paraphrased as saying that, if the bracelets work, they might want to put them on everyone who’s applying to stay in the US.
Whether that’s what he actually said, I don’t know, and whether he meant that every green card applicant, whatever his status or reason for staying, would bet a bracelet, I don’t know.