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An ICE hotline set up to allow reports of crimes committed by "criminal aliens" has had a close encounter with trolls:
The administration set up the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office on Wednesday, in accordance with President Trump's executive order in January. The office, folded within the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, aims to "assist victims of crimes committed by criminal aliens," according to the Department of Homeland Security.
"Alien" is a term used by the federal government to describe individuals who are not American citizens but who reside on U.S. soil. [...] Despite the line's intended purpose, callers have been reporting a range of abnormal activity.
1-855-48-VOICE to report all your encounters w/ illegal martians, rude Sasquatch, unleashed Texas Blue Hounds, Springheel Jack. Goblin army.
— Kathleen Dennis (@chelseabmw) April 27, 2017
ICE denounced the calls, saying such actions hurt victims of real crimes. Callers have even mentioned spotting "muggle-borns," a term from the "Harry Potter" book series referring to magical characters with non-magical parents.
Also at The Atlantic and CNN. Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office.
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Tuesday May 02 2017, @12:03AM
What, exactly, do you think is the purpose of this program?
Is it to identify and apprehend undocumented immigrants? Based on what, exactly? What evidence would a person have to prove that they were victimized by an undocumented immigrant? What, if you get mugged you expect the guy to hand over his immigration documents? Do you expect to knock on your neighbor's door and request to see theirs? Even if you did, they have no obligation to actually present such information.
So what we have here is a program where the government is asking people to report their neighbors to the police based on crimes for which they are unlikely to have any evidence. But their call CREATES the evidence for the government to go look. It provides a way to bypass standard due process for search and seizure while simultaneously sowing fear and distrust among the population by making us victimize each other on behalf of the government, without the government getting the blame for any resulting bias.
If these laws are so important to enforce, then empower the police to enforce them. If they aren't willing to spend the money to do that, maybe there's a reason. Either they DON'T think those laws matter, and just want to pretend to be doing something without funding it; or they want to enforce laws that they know the general public would oppose, so they're trying to find ways around that by having those potentially abusive or controversial actions carried out by non-government agents instead.