DHS Ankle Bracelet Pilot Program

Áine on March 3rd, 2005 filed in Politics

“The Department of Homeland Security is experimenting with a controversial new method to keep better track of immigrants who are applying to stay in the United States. In eight cities, it is requiring immigrants whose status is being challenged by the government to wear electronic monitors 24 hours a day. These are the same monitors that some rapists and other criminals have to wear on parole. This pilot project is putting monitors on immigrants who’ve never been accused of a crime.”

This story is worrisome. I realize this is a test program and that right now it is being used for illegal immigrants or those whose visas have expired, but like the commenters on that entry, I worry that if there is another attack on U.S. soil, this program will be greatly expanded, and the definition of what kind of person constitutes a “security risk” can quite easily be expanded to include just about anybody. The comments on that link bring up some thoughtful points as well.

Technorati Tags: Civil Rights, Human Rights, Immigration, National Security, Politics