Sometimes, there’s just no way to make something seem any more ridiculous than it already is.
Ankle bracelets? On all non-citizens seeking residence in the US? What kind of paranoid, 1984-ish crap is this? If I had read this in a novel, I would have considered it a heavy-handed parody of a state gone nuts. I would have rolled my eyes and dismissed it as unbelievable. And, yet, here it is. For real. Like, here. In the US–land of the free, right? What the HELL?!
Just keep repeating to yourself, “if you’ve got nothing to hide, there’s no reason to worry, this is for everyone’s safety and we all need to make a few sacrifices because this is a completely new situation and the old way of doing things just won’t work anymore and it’s not so bad, really, it’s not like anyone’s being hurt by this except the criminals so what are you complaining about?”
Say it over and over again for long enough and you’ll begin to believe it or the oxygen will drain from your brain and you’ll pass out. Either way works.
It’s absolutely outrageous. One of the aliens they interviewed in the story not only has a tracking bracelet on, but is effectively subject to house arrest for 12 hours a day, having to be inside his house between the hours of 6pm and 6am every day.
The other one has to report to a private, government-contracted security firm three times a week, right in the middle of the day. This guy is a manager of a restaurant, who supervises 50 staff in an establishment that feeds 800-900 people a day, and he has to leave that restaurant right in the middle of the lunch rush to report to the security firm. In case you thought the story couldn’t get any more Orwellian, the name of the security company is Behavioral Interventions.
Even worse, the Department of Homeland Security representative defending the plan seriously misrepresents the study he claims provides support for the new policy. The DHS rep claims, citing a Justice Department study, that 85% of aliens who are ordered to leave by DHS “bolt.”
But the Justice Department study never said that 85% of people abscond; what it said was that 85% of those due to be deported do not get deported, and that a key reason for this is actually due to immigration officials themselves keeping records so shoddy and disorganized that, when the time comes to deport someone, they often can’t even locate the person in question. The Justice Department says no-one knows how many aliens try to cheat the system, and how many are innocent victims of government mismanagement. In many cases, the JD rep says, aliens send in change-of-address forms, but the DHS fails to process the forms properly and so ends up losing track of the immigrant.
The audio file is only 9 minutes long; i highly recommend listening to the whole thing. It’s fucking unbelievable the crap that is going on.
Count me in the “It’s bat-shit crazy camp.” Add to that the fact that the TSA has now decided that if you try to bring a cigarette lighter or more than 4 packs of matches on a plane, you’re a terrorist, and I’m firmly in the “Please, let the aliens come and kill us all” camp.
Anyone else looking forward to Brutus’s attempts to polish this turd?
Help me out here, guys. When these people go into hiding to avoid deportation, wouldn’t one of the first things they’d do be… REMOVE THE ANKLET? 
Anybody who sees a point to this, please let me know.
:rolleyes:
Why limit it to just Brutus? It’s not as if the SDMB is short of batshit crazy Bush apologists, despite all their bleatings about being a persecuted minority.
$5 says it will involve the word “teh” and not actually refer to anything in the OP or the referenced article. Bonus points if the word “panties” gets used.
If you guys are going to start a fan club, at least pay dues.
Well, one out of three…
you’re still doing better than missile defence.
Sent. 
It may have finally happened. The Bush administration may finally have come up with a policy so ridiculous that even their most ardent supporters are looking this thread over and saying, “Damn, I’m not touching this one. They’re on their own this time.”
Check’s in the mail. Won’t be too hard to spot. It’s the rubber one.
Don’t worry, they’ve been rigged to explode if removed or if taken more than 250 yards from the transmitter base.
This has to be the dumbest thing I’ve heard since the last really stupid thing that they’ve done. Sadly, it will be replaced by something even dumber within a month.
My favorite part of the story was how the subject of the story (his name escapes me) called his case officer at Behavior Interventions to reschedule his appointment because he had a very important meeting with a regional VP of his restaurant chain. BI wouldn’t budge. Then the GM and RVP called the case officer to stress the need for the guy to reschedule. The officer still wouldn’t budge, because he “needed to learn a lesson.”
What lesson was that exactly? How to work his way up, learn English, and become a responsible and productive member of society? Or that you’re an officious prick?
Teh panties.
Please send me the $5.00. I need the cash. 
Why do you people hate America?
(I can’t believe I am the first!!)
Gotta give credit where it’s due: kudos to Brutus for showing a sense of humor in this thread (interesting that even e won’t attempt to “polish this turd”).
Let’s drink a toast to freedom, boys, while we still can.
Yeah, Brutus, I don’t follow your posts, so I don’t have an opinion on you, but that post cracked me up.
I heard this story on the air yesterday, and I got my panties in a bunch over that guy who tried to reschedule. Jesus. I mean yeah, they’re letting you stay in the US, but it doesn’t seem like they are making it easy for you to remain gainfully employed.
I’m sure these individuals were chosen for the shock value, and I’m willing to entertain there are other sides to the story, but it seems like a little bit of rule bending to fit the situation would be in order.
I know, I know, crazy talk…
I do think this is less about the Bush Administration and more about the sorry state of the INS. Of course, the only option is to not reform the INS, but rather to pass more laws to screw up the INS even more.
Sounds like the only thing we have to fear is efficiency.
As usual, the ones who are punished the most are the ones trying to follow the rules.
Please join me in a rendition of the Star-Spangled–I mean, God Bless America.