First, They Came For the Utah's Undocumented...

Here on Race in America, blogger Daniel Cubias recently wrote about an anonymous group in Utah that decided to release the names of 1,300 allegedly undocumented people. This list — which also includes extremely private information, such as social security numbers -- was sent to both government officials and media outlets. The accompanying suggestion was that these people were, of course, to be deported immediately.

Apparently white robes are too flashy these days, so the group responsible is choosing to hide out instead. But new reports indicate that at least two state employees have been put on leave for their potential involvement in the matter. Officials believe others might be involved, too, and are continuing the investigation. (It's not yet clear if these actions will merit criminal prosecution.) Meanwhile, pro-immigrant leader José Gutiérrez of the Utah Hispanic/Latino Coalition has upped the ante, calling the act a kind of psychological terrorism.

Forget about the alarming privacy violations created by this kind of work — anti-immigrant advocate and Utah Minuteman Project co-chair Eli Cawley suggests that the benefits of targeting undocumented people outweigh such considerations. In fact, today, Cawley even insisted that the employees responsible for the list should be protected by Utah’s whistle-blower defense in Utah law.

Given the kind of sensitive information included on the list — such as the expected due dates of several pregnant women — this group's work is setting a terribly dangerous precedent. It's troubling to imagine a dislike of undocumented communities so passionate that people would go so far to jeopardize the privacy, health and safety of those on the list. Independent of how you feel about immigration, the people listed, after all, are children, women and elders — in short, human beings.

Those concerned about the wellbeing of all people, including undocumented immigrants, should be moved to demand justice. Though the list focused on 1,300 allegedly undocumented immigrants, what will the next such list released to the media and government officials be comprised of?

At a time when racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, etc. are as rife as they were 50 years ago, all people should be paying close attention to this issue. Undocumented immigrants are hardly the only people targeted by hate groups. And there are many, many databases that exist, with sensitive information about all of us.

What about a list of LGBT people? Or a list of women who've sought abortions? Or a list of people living with HIV? The list of vulnerable communities is never-ending. Actions like these must be vigorously denounced, investigated and prosecuted as appropriate. All people in this country have the fundamental right to safety from the deeds of vigilante-inspired hate groups. We can't allow groups like these to chip away at our basic humanity.

Photo Credit: Fibonacci Blue