Brown Skinned Citizens, keep a bag packed!

I have to travel to Georgia next week, so, according to this article, I had better hit the travel sized toiletries section at Walgreens before I go. Seems that our Department of Homeland Security, which now oversees I.C.E., has decided that if you look "Mexican", it's probable cause enough to be picked up in raids, or "sweeps" which is their preferred euphemism. Thankfully, the good folks at The Southern Poverty Law Center have filed suit, and plan to send a message to the Federal Govt that if they continue to target people due to skin color, they had better be prepared to defend themselves in court. "This was a widespread sweep, based largely on racial and ethnic profiling, in violation of the 4th and 5th Amendments to the United States Constitution," Mary Bauer, attorney for the plaintiffs, said at a news conference here. Those amendments pertain to the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure and the right to due process.

"Agents saw brown skin," Bauer said, "and made a presumption of illegality."

Indeed.

Hat-tip to Rebecca U.