What's the Penalty for Being Wrong?

 

December 4, 2024

 

A Missouri lawmaker wants to give people $1,000 if they turn in undocumented immigrants.

The idea started as a portal where people could submit names for the government to check out. But, according to the Post-Dispatch, the lawmaker wants to create a program that “would certify applicants to be bounty hunters for the purpose of finding and detaining undocumented immigrants in the state.”

Rabid people keeping an eye out for people with darker skin and foreign accents, with a cash incentive to turn them in, and blanket approval to detain them. What could go wrong? If you’re not picturing harassment and potential physical harm, you haven’t been paying attention to what’s going on around the country.

I have a friend who was born and raised in South America, and became an American citizen 40 years ago. She still has an accent. Will someone try to determine if she is a legal citizen? How?

Will there be a provision in the bill that says if a “bounty hunter” harasses an American citizen who has an accent, they will have to pay compensation to the citizen? Do jail time? If the person isn’t a citizen, and gets roughed up, will they get compensation? Will the assailant go to jail? What kind of brakes would be on this program?

Please let this idea go to that great Shredder in the Sky.