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Washington State To Try RFID Drivers Licenses
tverbeek tells us about a program the state of Washington has approved, to issue RFID-equipped drivers licenses to facilitate cross-border traffic. The idea is to load the drivers license with information proving citizenship, so that (with Department of Homeland Security approval) the bearer doesn't need to carry a passport — which otherwise will be required to re-enter the US from Canada beginning in 2009. The "enhanced" licenses will require applicants to submit to an in-person interview and to show proof of citizenship. A pilot program in Washington begins January 2008. Officials hope for DHS approval of the program before the Vancouver Olympics in 2010 causes a spike in cross-border traffic.
I was curious, so I looked it up myself: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/20 03628279_danny21.html?syndication=rss
Starting at 8 a.m. last Thursday, federal Border Patrol agents blocked the highway outside town. For four hours, every car, truck and bus driving south on Highway 101 was pulled off the road and all passengers questioned. seven undocumented workers, who were shipped to a detention center in Tacoma.
Carted off 160 miles to not even a jail, but a detention center.
>I refuse to call these people 'illegals' because no human being is 'illegal', they are fucken human beings.
If they are from somewhere else, they are an alien.
If they are enterring illegally, they are an illegal alien.
And it's natural to shorten a long phrase like "illegal alien" to simply "illegal" when the context is clear.
The person themself is not illegal, but their status in that location is.
I don't see a problem with calling them illegals.
Now, treating them as less than human is a whole other ball o' wax.
We have detention centers in Australia too. They are full of refugees who try to come to australia via boat without permission. I refuse to call these people 'illegals' because no human being is 'illegal', they are fucken human beings.
There are laws defining how non-citizens are allowed to enter the country. These people have broken those laws. They're illegal immigrants.
This does not mean they are "illegal people". They are free to leave - and go back to their point of origin - whenever they want.
Sad thing is, only a minority of people in Australia feel for the plight of these people. Most 'aussies' are racist, even if they don't admit it (or don't realize it).
Believing in immigration control is not racist, it's sensible.
If you're so gung-ho about this, can you give me your address ? I want to come over to your house, eat your food and sleep in your bed for a few weeks. Or are you some racist hypocrite who locks his door at night ?
Whats even sadder is that some refugees have been detained for years on end without being processed. Even sadder still, after years in detention, some get sent back from where they came. There was one case I think where someone was returned to Iran to be subsequently killed by the Iranian government.
Now, here you actually have something approaching a valid point. The time taken to process these people *is* something that needs to be improved. Of course, if they didn't destroy all the documentation proving who they are, that would expedite the process far more than anything that can be done on Australia's end.
Detetntion centers need to be abolished. There is no place for them in a free society.
So how *should* we deal with people who enter the country illegally, that we know nothing about ?