In recent news relating to those of us who are not yet citizens: the tax rebate is not available to anyone without a social security number, including those legal to work and pay taxes, nor to their spouses, even if said spouse is an American citizen. The completely pointless border fence has raised serious legal questions in Texas, with local government lining up against the Feds. The United States has been illegally drugging deportees, in order to render them docile, for at least five years. And the mass media has finally begun to notice that immigrant detention in this country, a veritable goldmine of privatization, rivals the Australian system in its cruelty and inhumanity.
Walter Rodriguez Castro, who died in detention in California on April 23, 2006, had his cause of death officially listed as unresponsive.
Unresponsive.
If someone can show me a medical text where unresponsive is a recognized disease or injury suitable for listing as a cause of death, I'll print out this diary and eat it. The level of neglect demonstrated by this one incident, let alone by the system as a whole, boggles the mind.
But enough from me. The basics on the US detention system are very well laid out by the Detention Watch Network.
The Washington Post's investigation of illegal drugging can be found here.
The Houston Chronicle reports on the border fence mess.
And the New York Times editorializes on immigrants and rebate checks.
The principle is simple enough. Treat human beings with decency. The right wing in this country generally claims a Christian heritage. Do unto others...? Apparently not if they weren't born here.
NOTE: Since there's been a minor storm of comments regarding work permission and tax issues, I'll clarify the rebate situation as I understand it: if you have paid taxes using a TIN (taxpayer identification number) from the IRS (for instance: filing jointly with your working spouse to qualify for all proper exemptions), and you file jointly with someone who does have an SSN (social security number), neither of you is eligible for the rebate.