welcometousa.gov: the U.S. commodified and reduced to a possible convention location

Emilio Gonzalez, the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced welcometousa.gov:

The administration launched a new Web site to be a central clearinghouse of federal information that may be useful to immigrants. The site provides a range of information including a link to help immigrants find English classes and steers them to providing tips on building a resume and finding a job.

Administration officials also said they are going to try to use the site to enlist people to volunteer to assist immigrants and to enlist immigrants for volunteer work in their communities.

Also, the administration is hoping to provide libraries, adult educators and community groups with training and resources to teach civics and citizenship classes.

While the front page of the site says "[a]s a permanent resident, you have made the decision to call the United States your home", I would not be surprised to learn that some parts of the site don't assume that "permanent resident" is just a shortened version of "legal permanent resident", but includes any resident.

I also find the site disturbingly similar to generic Chamber of Commerce sites promoting people to relocate to Dubuque, Milwaukee, or Piscataway, or to convention sites such as choosechicago.com or lacclink.com, with George Bush as the president of the local Chamber of Commerce. Such commodification of the U.S. is probably not that jarring to a committed globalist like Our Leader.

Immigration2007a · Wed, 06/13/2007 - 08:29 · Importance: 1