As officially noted on the description page of the tool:
Funded by Arts and Humanities (Transborder Grant 2007-8), UCSD.
http://humctr.ucsd.edu/awards/awards.shtml#Transborder
Yes, the University of California, San Diego, funded a grant that for a mobile application designed to circumvent US Border Controls.
As described at the progect page:
1)GPS mapping the Mexico/U.S. border on both sides of this border for 3 to 4 weeks, which allow us to find the exact coordinates needed to anchor the triangulations that would frame the start and points for the Transborder Immigrant Tool.
2)3 months to research current and pre-emptive transborder networks and infrastructures, such as, Homeland Security activities, Halliburton border security projects, border patrol and Minutemen activities and water/food anchors established by support communities along the border – with the goal to improve the odds of immigrant safety and determine which of the computationally mediated paths are likely to be currently useful to follow.
3)5 to 6 months to develop the Transborder Immigrant Tool algorithm code and test the GPS coordinates and develop the Spanish and English interface and instructions for use.
4)A 1 week Walkabout Testing of the Transborder Immigrant Tool algorithm by the Principle Investigators and invited artists. We would first walk south into Mexico and then walk back north into the U.S. in the tradition of Richard Long’s walking sculptures, Situationist psychographic gestures and x-border art work of artist Heath Bunting.
5)Passing out the Transborder Immigrant Tool to communities of immigrants on both sides of border for use in developing this project. Each tool would be branded as an art project by Electronic Disturbance Theater and b.a.n.g lab (bang.calit2.net) – all users would be requested to return the Transborder Immigrant Tool for distribution once they safely reach an end anchor point for upgrades and further distribution.
Other coverage of the new mobile app that's designed to help illegal immigrants break the law:
Phone App Helps Immigrants Cross Border - Tonic
Border Crossing: There's an App for That
Smart phone application helps illegal immigrants navigate safely across border
Now look - I get that you're looking for an 'excuse' as to why this was created, and I saw the TV coverage in which Micha* claims this is a 'safety' issue to help border crossers to a water point or other safe haven. Uh-huh... suuuuuuuuure... that's why you're on national TV wearing a PLO scarf? Yeah, buddy. Hardly. Academic freedom is one thing, but government funding of tools to circumvent government regulations and responsibilities is stupid, if not illegal. Someone pull this funding NOW.
*can't tell 'he' or 'she' and everything online points to a transgendered persona, so I don't know transgendered in which direction
By: Brant
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