{"id":5448,"date":"2008-10-07T17:45:03","date_gmt":"2008-10-07T22:45:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com?p=5448"},"modified":"2008-10-08T05:02:07","modified_gmt":"2008-10-08T10:02:07","slug":"a_virtual_visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/2008\/10\/07\/a_virtual_visit\/","title":{"rendered":"A Virtual Visit to a Detention Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m playing a new online video game today. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Homeland Guantanamos\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a> and it has transformed me into an undercover journalist whose task is to unearth clues about the mysterious 2007 death of Boubacar Bah, a Guinean tailor who was held at a detention center in Elizabeth, NJ for overstaying his visa.\"detain.jpg\"<\/p>\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Homeland Guantanamos\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is the latest multi-media offering from Breakthrough<\/a>, the human rights organization which uses media and popular culture to raise awareness here and in India. [Abhi covered<\/a> their video game \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I Can End Deportation\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or I.C.E.D. earlier this year. ]<\/p>\n\n

We’ve all heard stories about immigrants (illegal and residents) being detained without explanation or for prolonged periods of time. At the website, I got to see what life might be like on the other side of the fence. I took a tour of a simulated immigration detention center and collected clues to help solve the mystery of Bah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death<\/a> (he died of a skull fracture and brain hemorrhages). Along the way, I saw other detainees (eg: a pregnant woman kept in shackles during labor) and witnessed conditions of the facilities, including the solitary confinement room, the bathrooms, and the dining hall. Though this is a simulated experience, the content is based on factual sources such as news articles, court documents, and interviews.<\/p>\n\n

Why call the site “Homeland Guantanamos”? According to Malikka Dutt, executive director of Breakthrough, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the Department of Homeland Security is violating the human rights of legal and undocumented immigrants\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and some of the inhumane conditions of detention centers where these immigrants are being held are not all that different from the facility at Guantanamo Bay. \nA few facts:<\/p>\n\n

\nLast year, more than 300,000 people were held in detention centers on mainland USA.
\nThe cost to tax payers last year alone was $1.2 billion to tax payers.
\nSince 2003, 87 detainees have died in detention centers.
\nThere are over 100 detention centers throughout the country. [ A map of detention centers is available here<\/a>, searchable by zipcode. The most detention centers seem to be clustered in the Northeast. ]
\nBetween January 2004 to November 2007, nearly a million people passed through immigration custody.
\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

As with I.C.E.D., response to this project has not been all warm and fuzzy. In a Times<\/I> article published this weekend, Kelly A. Nantel, a spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the video game was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a work of fiction that dehumanizes the individuals depicted and grossly distorts conditions in detention facilities.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n\n

Dutt maintains that the Dept. of Homeland Security\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s enforcement measures are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153increasingly draconian\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and hopes that this game will serve as a platform for increased support of the Protect Citizens and Residents from Unlawful Raids and Detention Act, proposed by Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Edward Kennedy (D-Ma.). More in the NYT article<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

The Homeland Guantanamos site features compelling video testimonials from detainees. Breakthrough went “live from jail”<\/a> and interviewed several long time permanent US residents who face possible deportation because of unfair immigration laws. It also has an action guide and a memorial wall. Most certainly worth checking out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m playing a new online video game today. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Homeland Guantanamos\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a> and it has transformed me into an undercover journalist whose task is to unearth clues about the 2007 death of Boubacar Bah, a Guinean tailor who was being held in NJ jail for overstaying his visa.<\/p>\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Homeland Guantanamos\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is the latest multi-media offering from Breakthrough<\/a>, the human rights organization which uses media and popular culture to raise awareness here and in India.<\/p> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[37,5,10,35,31],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5448"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5448\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}