andrel <byt### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> On 1-5-2010 19:13, Warp wrote:
> > Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:
> >> No, but the notion that you can pick someone up because they *look* like 
> >> an illegal immigrant (which BTW violates the 4th amendment right to 
> >> protection against unreasonable search/seizure) *is* patently racist.
> > 
> >   Why does it have to be racism?

> Racism is here used as a general term of judging people by what cultural 
> group they appear to belong to based on how they look.

  I understand "juding" in official terms to mean to convict someone of a
crime. If people are convicted there solely because of how they look, then
yes, that would be racism. Is that so?

  The colloqualism "to judge" which means to have a prejudiced opinion
about someone is not necessarily the same thing as the profiling work that
law enforcement needs to do by necessity in order to get better chances of
catching criminals. It's simply applied statistics.

> There is another way that even takes less time and is not illegal 
> because of various international laws: don't question people unless you 
> have a serious reason to believe that they are illegal (or you are 
> questioning them anyway because of a non-related suspicion or check).

  And then watch illegal immigration raise. Right.

  It's better to allow illegal immigration than to possibly offend someone.

  Do you advocate that mentality with all crimes? Or is this only related
to illegal immigration?

> Frankly I find your reasoning that "I know there is an illegal immigrant 
> in this country, so I have to check everybody that looks like he might 
> be it" quite disturbing. But that is not unusual.

  If find your argument that "the police should not be looking for the
illegal immigrant because doing so might offend someone" even more
disturbing.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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