Give them the power, they will abuse it
Triggerfinger reports that the US Census bureau is providing the Department of Homeland Security with information about people who identified themselves as Arab on the 2000 census:
EPIC has obtained documents revealing that the Census Bureau provided the Department of Homeland Security statistical data on people who identified themselves on the 2000 census as being of Arab ancestry. The special tabulations were prepared specifically for the law enforcement agency. There is no indication that the Department of Homeland Security requested similar information about any other ethnic groups.
The article then draws a fairly obvious parallel:
During World War II, the Census Bureau provided statistical information to help the War Department round up more than 120,000 innocent Japanese Americans and confine them to internment camps.
I thought the purpose of the census was a head count to determine representation?
Update: I’m not buying it, but NoQuarters tells us that:
A spokeswoman for Customs and Border Protection told the newspaper the requests were made not for law enforcement purposes, but to help identify in which airports to post signs and pamphlets in Arabic to assist travelers.
July 30th, 2004 at 12:55 pm
“I’m from the government, and I’m here to help you.”
July 30th, 2004 at 2:12 pm
yea i did not fill out one because there was not place to include my social security number, so that made me mad.
July 30th, 2004 at 11:04 pm
From what I gethered they did not seek any information on Eastern Europeans, Africans, or Asian nationals. Just Arabic. They cannot even come up with fake reasons any more.