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From today's LA Times:
Obama aims to overhaul immigration jail system
The reforms would send detainees without criminal records to less-restrictive sites that would be under more federal oversight.
Pledging more oversight and accountability, the Obama administration announced plans Thursday to transform the nation's immigration detention system from one reliant on a scattered network of local jails and private prisons to a centralized one designed specifically for civil detainees.
This is a time when people are concerned that the Obama administration wants to take away our liberties - e.g., the recent AARP meeting where one speaker said, "This health care bill is not about health care. This is about our fundamental constitutional rights. It is a liberty issue." At such a time, the plan by the Obama administration to create a new system of state-run jails, specifically for "civil detainees," is alarming.
Clearly no one is going to believe that Obama would create a huge prison system just for illegal immigrants.
After all, if there were a need for that, the correct answer isn't better ways to lock up illegal immigrants - the correct answer for that is better border control. Why go to the trouble of creating a special system for locking them up when it's far easier just to not let them in in the first place? (For an approach to controlling the borders that is relatively low-cost and could be running in a short period of time, see this previous post.)
Since the notion of creating a special jail system for illegals is laughably absurd, and since there is already great concern that Obama is threatening our liberties, there is likely going to be concern that the true purpose of Obama in seeking such a jail system for civilians, is to have a place where he can lock up other civilians in addition to illegal immigrants - i.e. Obama's political opponents.
However, Obama isn't naive enough to think he can push for such a jail system, without causing exactly this kind of concern. Therefore it appears possible that his intention in releasing this proposal, is not at all to actually build such a jail system, but is in fact merely to chill free speech by creating concern among his political opponents that he will try to find a way to lock them up for their views.
I have never in my life seen the kind of outrage directed against our government that the Obamacrats are encountering at the current town hall meetings. It appears to me that the Obamacrats are desperate, and that this prison system proposal is one more sign of it.
#2I've been following the horrific effects of the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake.
Hundreds of thousands are homeless, the infrastructure of Haiti (the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere) is completely ruined, and there is going to be an imminent health problem due to all the cadavers piled the streets and trapped in rubble. The lack of water is also an a major issue.
These people do need to be, and deserved, to be helped by nations worldwide.
However, it is obvious that President Obama, in the spirit of 'compassion' will offer the US as a safe refuge and permanent home to tens of thousands of Haitians. The Clintons will probably be quite involved with this.
Deja Voodoo: It reminds me of the plight of Haitian political refugees in 1992. In that year, President Clinton, lifted the ban on the HIV-infected refugees who had been held in camps at Guantanemo Bay. By this act, he allowed nearly 300 known HIV/AIDS-infected refugees into the United States.
I fear that by doing this, many of the Haitians, we will be taking accepting, will be either infected with HIV or other diseases. Here is a site concerning HIV statistics in Haiti. We have also set up a partnership to fight HIV/AIDS in Haiti>
Additionally, the national prison collapsed and hardened criminals are roaming the country and could seek refuge here. This is a frightening thought.
Although I believe that many Haitians refugees should be allowed to immigrate here, Indiscriminate immigration would be disasterous to this nation. It will overburden our country, especially, the health sector. We need to make sure that the refugees we allow to enter are healthy and respectable as well as urge other nations to take their fair share of refugees.
We should then contribute, with other nations, to the rebuilding of Haiti.
#3Thanks for the article, A.M. I have found a link to provide documention for your concerns about how the Obama administration may admit Haitians to the U.S. without sufficiently checking their health and respectability. In fact, it appears that 30,000 Haitians who were to be deported from the U.S., will now be permitted to stay for at leat 18 months. I have added the link (under the word "obvious" in your article), and posted your article on the front page.
Yowsa!!! Free room and board for me! And, I can rent my house while incarcerated...where do I sign up?
Best regards,
Gail S
http://backyardfence.wordpress.com