The Transborder Immigrant Tool?? You’ve got to be fucking joking. How about programing the GPS for directions BACK ACROSS THE BORDER.
A group of California artists wants Mexicans and Central Americans to have more than just a few cans of tuna and a jug of water for their illegal trek through the harsh desert into the U.S.
Faculty at University of California, San Diego are developing a GPS-enabled cell phone that tells dehydrated migrants where to find water and pipes in poetry from phone speakers, regaling them on their journey much like Emma Lazarus’ words did a century ago to the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free” on Ellis Island.
The Transborder Immigrant Tool is part technology endeavor, part art project. It introduces a high-tech twist to an old debate about how far activists can go to prevent migrants from dying on the border without breaking the law.
Immigration hardliners argue the activists are aiding illegal entry to the United States, a felony.
……The effort is being done on the government’s dime – an irony not lost on the designers whose salaries are paid by the state of California.
“There are many, many areas in which every American would say I don’t like the way my tax dollars are being spent. Our answer to that is an in-your-face, so what?” says UCSD lecturer Brett Stalbaum, 33, a self-described news junkie who likens his role to chief technology officer.
How ’bout an in your face, you’re aiding and abetting felons. It’s against the law: Read Title 8 of the U.S. Code, sections 1324 and 1325.
……U.S. authorities are unfazed. The Border Patrol has begun a $6.7-billion plan to drape the border with whiz-bang cameras, sensors and other technology.
“It’s nothing new,” said Border Patrol spokesman Mark Endicott. “We’ve seen handheld GPS devices used by smugglers. … We’re just going to have to learn to adapt to any challenges.”
Critics of illegal immigration say the device is misguided, at best. (“misguided”?)
“If it’s not a crime, it’s very close to committing a crime,” said Peter Nunez, a former U.S. attorney in San Diego. “Whether this constitutes aiding and abetting would depend on the details, but it certainly puts you in the discussion.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/29/AR2009122900495.html
“Close to committing a crime”? Beggin’ yer pardon, former U.S. attorney, but you need to brush up on those legal definition skills.
I’m going to ask the INS and the DOJ why my tax money is being used to commit criminal conspiracy.