http://talkleft.com/new_archives/009897.html#009897

Immigrants to Wear Electronic Anklets

The Department of Homeland Security is experimenting with a controversial new method to keep better track of immigrants who are applying to remain in the United States. It is requiring aliens in eight cities to wear electronic monitors 24 hours a day.

The ankle bracelets are the same monitors that some rapists and other convicted criminals have to wear on parole. But the government's pilot project is putting monitors on aliens who have never been accused of a crime.

So far, the Department of Homeland Security has put electronic monitors on more than 1,700 immigrants. Victor Cerda, director of Detention and Removal Operations at Homeland Security, says the anklets will help prevent tens of thousands of immigrants who are ordered to leave the country each year from "absconding" -- going into hiding to avoid deportation.

But critics say Cerda and other Homeland Security officials have exaggerated the extent of the problem. They point to a Justice Department study that put part of the blame on immigration officials, saying they'd failed to keep adequate records to track aliens.

I don't have a major problem with this except that they are restricting the immigrants' movements as if they were rapists on parole. I hear one guy on the radio who must be IN HIS HOME from 6pm to 6am every day. He can't go to the grocery store after work, he can't go visit his other family members across town, etc... You know, if they want to find him, he's got an anklet on. I don't think we should assume that just because someone is in this country illegally (or protesting his legal status as this guy was), that they are going to be out committing crimes at night. In fact, those who have the anklets are the ones who are at least participating in the legal process and I think can be assumed to be generally law-abiding people.

--PunkDavid

I agree with most of what you said. I just find it so fucking degrading. You've got someone that wasn't trying to hide, that is probably checking in on a regular basis, and you're treating him/her like shit.

I'm failing to see why this would be necessary.

The argument the OHS uses is that of the thousands of people who are ordered by courts to be deported, 85% never leave the country. Many of these people abscond. However, many of these people are simply never informed of the decision because they have moved and OHS didn't update their forwarding address in their system, or for other bureaucratic disorganizational reasons. Only a small percentage of those illegals who ever are involved in the legal system are actually potentially dangerous as criminals.

--PunkDavid

If we couldn't remember to tell them that they had to leave, how are we going to remember to put an anklet on their leg?

That's the point. You only have to meet with them once to put an anklet on them. No worries about the followup meeting. All those people who were ordered to leave the country we had met with at least once as well.

--PunkDavid

So, we're moving to the anklet system because federal employees are too lazy to do their jobs?

You know, as a teacher, the parents we absolutely need to talk to are completely impossible to find, ever. They don't show up for IEPs, conferences, they don't return calls. This could really help. I think every parent with a child in public schools should be required to wear one too. It would have a huge impact on your child's quality of education.

I wonder how many societal ills we could solve with the use of anklets.

I wonder what other fancy electronic gadgets are in those anklets. I assume they are using GPS... Maybe there is room for some kind of surveillance device aswell... Some kind of electric shock administering device? It would make me very paranoid if the gov't tried to put an anklet on me.

If you don't like it...get the HEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLL OUT!

THEY TOOK ERR JOBS!!