Okay, I admit to a touch of hyperbole in order to get your attention. However, I came across this very disturbing blog entry on the web site of the stalwart Mr. David Neiwert.
This article is from the Long Beach (CA) Press-Telegram:
By Mason Stockstill, Staff writer
A Houston-based construction firm with ties to the White House has been awarded an open-ended contract to build immigration detention centers that could total $385 million a move some critics called questionable.
The contract calls for KBR, a subsidiary of oil engineering and construction giant Halliburton, to build temporary detention facilities in the event of an “immigration emergency,” according to U.S. officials.
“If, for example, there were some sort of upheaval in another country that would cause mass migration, that’s the type of situation that this contract would address,” said Jamie Zuieback of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“Essentially, this is a contingency contract.”
Under the contract, which was awarded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, KBR could also be tasked to operate one or more temporary detention facilities, and to develop a plan for responding to a natural disaster in which ICE personnel participate in relief efforts.
Do I still have your attention?
Neiwert then links to this column by Tom Hennessy:
Considering what took place in Nazi Germany, as well as the shameful incarceration of Japanese-Americans in 1942, no detention camp should be built without the widest possible public scrutiny.
Bottom line: The contract cries out for greater attention. So far, the government’s expressed reason for building them is insufficient and ill-defined. And even if the camps do relate to illegal immigration, their purpose could be changed overnight.
This is an instance in which we could be well served by our representatives in Congress. They need to look at this and give constituents a better picture of what is going on.
Let’s not have it said, years from now, that no one ever questioned this.
Some may say this is tin-foil hat country. To which I would reply: How bad do things have to get before we begin to use the F-word?
And most of all: Why now?
Neiwert is no Chicken Little. He work is, in my opinion, right up there with the SPLC when it comes to monitoring and exposing the activites of the far Right, albeit on a smaller scale. In other words, if Neiwert yells “fire!” you better start looking for the exits. I strongly encourage every to bookmark his excellent blog.
Thoughts?
[editor’s note, by urizon]I added a few blockquotes in an effort to emphasise what I see as an important story needing wider exposure. My apologies for the somewhat sloppy original post.
in tracking and writing about fascist activities, large and small.
You get my recommend for bringing attention to his post here.
While I share your concern and suspicion, the possibility of mass migrations (millions of refugees) coming over the southern border is a distinct possibility sometime this century, if the predicted climactic and demographic changes in the world come to pass.
Here are some links you might want to check out:
Yale University: “The next wave of migrants could dwarf the numbers of Europeans who came to the US in the 19th century.”
Am. Assn. for the Advancement of Science
Of course whether internment camps are the way to address the issue is a totally different question, but it’s the response I’d expect from an administration whose first response for how to address avian influenza was to call out the military to enforce quarantines.
Why do you think Clinton really bailed out Mexico? You can go through history, and every act of American “generosity” always has some benefit for the US as well. “Ubi caritas et amor Deus ibi est?” A nice myth we tell ourselves, if we think that’s our government’s motivation…”
“Ubi caritas et amor Deus ibi est?” A nice myth we tell ourselves, if we think that’s our government’s motivation…”
I could allow charitable motives on the part of president Carter, but part of my brain would still whisper: “Sucker!”
I’d very much like to take this with a grain of salt. With this bunch of thieves, however, anything is possible.
And Neiwert asks the right question: Why now? Avian flu? Another stolen election? Martial law? A Bush dictatorship?
Forgive me, Knox, if I take a more cynical line on this one.
Can’t blame you in the least – just thought I’d put that out for your consideration.
this news item seriously freaked me out. I can almost see it as a response to Katrina and the need to have mass housing ready to deploy for people displaced by natural and unnatural disasters. Almost. Given the way Bushco thinks, it is way creepy and needs to be watched carefully.
Here’s a question or two to consider.
If we had a mass demonstration of peaceful intent that was organized to occur simultaneously in several cities in the US, what are the odds that those centers would be activated?
Look at the violent protests worldwide now. If we had one for solidarity to show support, how many arrests could we expect….50,000….100,000…150,000…as many as there are peaceful protestors?
What resources could possibly handle that volume of arrest? Aiding or supporting a terroris cause changes the rules and there’s no getting out on bail.
grrrrr@no edit
I meant peaceful protest to show support, not violent protest intended but it does raise the issue of law enforcement inciting violence in peaceful protest.
I read it as concentration camps as well. One of the questions I have is why, with all the closed military bases, these haven’t been re-activated for use with Katrina refugees and/or instead of building these new facilities.
Perhaps the real intent is just to throw some more money at Halliburton for useless projects.
I might have an insight into why the closed bases weren’t converted into facilities for Katrina refugees. For several years I worked on the environmental cleanup of a large Air Force base in Illinois that was being closed under the BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) program.
When a base is slated to be closed, an oversight committee is formed made up of local officials, the Air Force (I assume it’s similar for other branches of the military), the EPA in our case (since it had environmental sites to be remediated), and the State.
This committee oversees things on a routine basis, including deciding future uses for the buildings – at our base, some buildings were sold to private companies, barracks were made into senior citizen housing, the base dining hall was made into a restaurant, some facilities were turned over to local schools, made into parks and athletic facilities, the target range was planned to give to local law enforcement I believe, etc. Monthly public meetings are required as part of the decision making, with plans available for public comment for a month or two in the town library before the meeting, etc. These plans were set in place years ago.
If the FEMA were to come in and say: “Sorry, folks – you know that old age home we were going to give you? It’s now going to Katrina evacuees.” I can promise you all hell would break loose with the local officials calling the governor and congressman, and some local residents driving by at night with shotguns taking pot shots at the place (the fences come down as part of the decomissioning).
Had we decided five years ago to go down that path it might have been an option, but in most places I suspect it couldn’t be done – for political reason at least as much as logistical ones – in the time available. There would still be people in the Superdome had they tried to evacuate them to the base I worked on. It was all we could do as contractors to try and lay low during the interminable food fights between the Air Force, EPA, and state, and not take someone else’s bullet.
BTW, that project is where my high blood pressure came from, LOL. Others developed ulcers, nervous disorders, etc.
BTW, that project is where my high blood pressure came from, LOL. Others developed ulcers, nervous disorders, etc.
…due to the STRESS, not the exposure to the pollution! (just to clarify)
Hey, thanks for the great insight to the situation with those. I’d often wondered about that too.
More information available over @ HalliburtonWatch. No time to track the contract itself.