Amazon is helping ICE track, detain and deport immigrants, report says
nydailynews.com
nydailynews.com
There is also a continuum in criticism between writing a relatively tame op-ed complaining that a company supports ICE and, like, burning down their headquarters.
And it's not like anyone is asking Amazon to scan S3 bucket registrations to try to reject any from the US government; we're talking about high level, mega-million dollar sales efforts, products specifically targeted for the government surveillance audience, and company participation in training. So it is very feasible for Amazon to make a choice to do or not do this stuff without a lot of monitoring overhead.
I feel embarrassed articulating the above because it is so obvious, which makes me wonder if the parent comment is really in good faith to begin with.
It really isn't obvious. What exactly is wrong with it, specifically?
Ok.
ICE and CBP have also repeatedly detained, denied entry to, or generally harassed people who are in full compliance with immigration law. That has included lawful applicants for asylum or refugee status, lawful permanent residents, and even US citizens. That's all besides the fact that being legal doesn't make something moral, consistent with national ideals, or economically wise. Or that unnecessarily cruel enforcement of a law is still a crime in its own right.
I think there is merit to using Facial Rec and License Plate readers to try and find people who are in violation of the law. The ethics and morals come into retention of that data. Collect and retain facial information for future use? Bad. Search for a known face in a crowd. Better.
And bad behavior of some is not a valid excuse for everyone. Police sometimes kill innocent people, but that's not a reason to say the police shouldn't carry guns. Tools can be abused, and that abuse needs to be aggressively monitored and punished, but that's not an argument to not use something.
Or maybe they didn't "go to great lengths" to use that as an excuse. Really, why is it even relevant? If an organization is doing wrong, no matter who they're doing it to or whether they also do right sometimes, that alone is sufficient to question support for them.
> Police sometimes kill innocent people, but that's not a reason to say the police shouldn't carry guns.
By the same token, very few immigrants are anything but innocent people looking to live and contribute to the American Dream, so there's no reason to preemptively exclude or bother them. There seems to be a bit of a double standard here. Bad cops? It's just "a few bad apples" to handle case by case after the fact (and half-heartedly in most cases). Immigrant criminals? Well, better put up a wall and do "extreme vetting" before we let anyone through.
We put GPS trackers on convicted criminals. We limit the freedoms of people convicted of crimes; can't buy guns, can't get certain kind of jobs, can't vote in some places. We put out warrants for the arrest of people accused of crimes in cases.
What's wrong? Using modern tools to catch criminals?
> By the same token, very few immigrants are anything but innocent people looking to live and contribute to the American Dream, so there's no reason to preemptively exclude or bother them.
Ok. But we live in a country of laws and rules. If I knock over a bank and don't harm anyone- that's fine right? I'm just trying to provide for my family. The bank has insurance. If I don't report my taxes, it doesn't harm anyone. The government has enough money. Breaking the law doesn't harm anyone- right?
> Bad cops? It's just "a few bad apples" to handle case by case after the fact (and half-hardheartedly in most cases). Immigrant criminals? Well, better put up a wall and do "extreme vetting" before we let anyone through.
We're putting body cameras on cops to stop abuses. We put cameras in cop cars so we can make sure what they say happened happened.
If an Immigrant comes here without proper authorization, without a visa, or stays on an expired visa; they are breaking the law. They have no inherent right to immigrate here. Coming into any country is a courtesy extended by the government of that country. If Japan doesn't want to issue a visa for whatever reason, that is their right. You have no right to visit or move to Japan. If they wish to do "extreme vetting", that is their right.
Cops has no inherent right to become a cop. They have to be hired, trained, and maintain a standard. Sure, there are bad ones who are not punished for their actions- and yes that is a double standard that needs to be fixed.
> Immigrant criminals? Well, better put up a wall and do "extreme vetting" before we let anyone through.
The stupid idea of a wall is to stop people from breaking the law. As I said before, nobody has the right to immigrate to this country as they want. If they ignore our laws and do so anyway, they should be removed- as they broke the law.
Isn't "innocent until proven guilty" one of those rules? And aren't "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" supposed to be inalienable human rights? Do you suppose the people who wrote that believed that these "self-evident truths" only applied to people born in a country that didn't exist yet?
> If an Immigrant comes here without proper authorization, without a visa, or stays on an expired visa
There you go again, pretending that ICE/CBP never bother anybody who's here legally. That's just not reality, and the cases where they overstep their own legal bounds are the ones that are most relevant here. We are a country of laws and rules, with nobody above those, right?
Yeah. If I stab someone, and they get a picture of the event on camera, and then use that picture to find me- that's ok. They don't need to convict me to do that.
> And aren't "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" supposed to be inalienable human rights?
Yep. The pursuit of happiness is to steal everything you own. By your implied logic, that should be 100% legal. Subsequent laws have no affect if they violate those three things, right?
> There you go again, pretending that ICE/CBP never bother anybody who's here legally. That's just not reality, and the cases where they overstep their own legal bounds are the ones that are most relevant here. We are a country of laws and rules, with nobody above those, right?
You're trying to conflate illegal immigration with ICE/CBP abuses. They are two different issues.
And regarding AWS, the technology will allow ICE to carry out it's job more effectively (i.e., more deportations). This is clearly upsetting for some.
But given the title, I assume "help" is providing tech resources just like to anyone else?
The political slant of the author comes through loud and clear from the first paragraph:
>Amazon and other tech companies are raking in billions by selling services that aid President Trump’s deportation agenda, according to a report.
Some find and replace set to "non-partisan" would render that:
>Amazon and other tech companies are profitably selling services that aid lawful immigration enforcement, according to a report.
Also telling is the (imo, blatantly dishonest) refusal to use the words "illegal", "undocumented", etc, making it sound like ICE is attacking people who crossed the border legally.