Practice Management Member Conversations

What do you think about Accepting a Commission to be the Architect for an ICE Detention Center?  ICE now has the budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the strongest national militaries on the planet.  Do you want to be part of the advancement of the current policies of the US DHS by putting your stamp on permit drawings for new detention facilities?

What do you think about Accepting a Commission to be the Architect for an ICE Detention Center?  ICE now has the budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the strongest national militaries on the planet.  Do you want to be part of the advancement of the current policies of the US DHS by putting your stamp on permit drawings for new detention facilities?

What do you think about Accepting a Commission to be the Architect for an ICE Detention Center?  ICE now has the budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the strongest national militaries on the planet.  Do you want to be part of the advancement of the current policies of the US DHS by putting your stamp on permit drawings for new detention facilities?

This is murkier than an execution chamber or a solitary confinement facility, however the basic question of human rights within such a facility is absolutely an ethical one. 

AIA Code of Ethics includes rules 1.402, 1.403, and 1.404 that all relate to some degree. 

What do you think about Accepting a Commission to be the Architect for an ICE Detention Center?  ICE now has the budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the strongest national militaries on the planet.  Do you want to be part of the advancement of the current policies of the US DHS by putting your stamp on permit drawings for new detention facilities?

I have heard very flimsy counterarguments for ICE human rights violations, such as "they have a nationwide jurisdiction", "they have an Executive Order", "US parents are separated from their children every day by the legal system", and "drone surveillance videos are an approved public observation." Some mindsets lack depth of thought.

This is murkier than an execution chamber or a solitary confinement facility, however the basic question of human rights within such a facility is absolutely an ethical one. 

AIA Code of Ethics includes rules 1.402, 1.403, and 1.404 that all relate to some degree. 

What do you think about Accepting a Commission to be the Architect for an ICE Detention Center?  ICE now has the budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the strongest national militaries on the planet.  Do you want to be part of the advancement of the current policies of the US DHS by putting your stamp on permit drawings for new detention facilities?

This forum is a professional exchange of ideas concerning practice management.  Political, social, cultural viewpoints are not solicited nor welcome.  Keep to the subject matter, leave your personal thoughts for social media.

I have heard very flimsy counterarguments for ICE human rights violations, such as "they have a nationwide jurisdiction", "they have an Executive Order", "US parents are separated from their children every day by the legal system", and "drone surveillance videos are an approved public observation." Some mindsets lack depth of thought.

This is murkier than an execution chamber or a solitary confinement facility, however the basic question of human rights within such a facility is absolutely an ethical one. 

AIA Code of Ethics includes rules 1.402, 1.403, and 1.404 that all relate to some degree. 

What do you think about Accepting a Commission to be the Architect for an ICE Detention Center?  ICE now has the budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the strongest national militaries on the planet.  Do you want to be part of the advancement of the current policies of the US DHS by putting your stamp on permit drawings for new detention facilities?

This forum is a professional exchange of ideas concerning practice management.  Political, social, cultural viewpoints are not solicited nor welcome.  Keep to the subject matter, leave your personal thoughts for social media.

I have heard very flimsy counterarguments for ICE human rights violations, such as "they have a nationwide jurisdiction", "they have an Executive Order", "US parents are separated from their children every day by the legal system", and "drone surveillance videos are an approved public observation." Some mindsets lack depth of thought.

This is murkier than an execution chamber or a solitary confinement facility, however the basic question of human rights within such a facility is absolutely an ethical one. 

AIA Code of Ethics includes rules 1.402, 1.403, and 1.404 that all relate to some degree. 

What do you think about Accepting a Commission to be the Architect for an ICE Detention Center?  ICE now has the budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the strongest national militaries on the planet.  Do you want to be part of the advancement of the current policies of the US DHS by putting your stamp on permit drawings for new detention facilities?

This is murkier than an execution chamber or a solitary confinement facility, however the basic question of human rights within such a facility is absolutely an ethical one. 

AIA Code of Ethics includes rules 1.402, 1.403, and 1.404 that all relate to some degree. 

What do you think about Accepting a Commission to be the Architect for an ICE Detention Center?  ICE now has the budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the strongest national militaries on the planet.  Do you want to be part of the advancement of the current policies of the US DHS by putting your stamp on permit drawings for new detention facilities?

What do you think about Accepting a Commission to be the Architect for an ICE Detention Center?  ICE now has the budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the strongest national militaries on the planet.  Do you want to be part of the advancement of the current policies of the US DHS by putting your stamp on permit drawings for new detention facilities?

What do you think about Accepting a Commission to be the Architect for an ICE Detention Center?  ICE now has the budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the strongest national militaries on the planet.  Do you want to be part of the advancement of the current policies of the US DHS by putting your stamp on permit drawings for new detention facilities?

What do you think about Accepting a Commission to be the Architect for an ICE Detention Center?  ICE now has the budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the strongest national militaries on the planet.  Do you want to be part of the advancement of the current policies of the US DHS by putting your stamp on permit drawings for new detention facilities?

What do you think about Accepting a Commission to be the Architect for an ICE Detention Center?  ICE now has the budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the strongest national militaries on the planet.  Do you want to be part of the advancement of the current policies of the US DHS by putting your stamp on permit drawings for new detention facilities?

It is anticipated that political and personal biases would influence such a decision. Indeed, if a person is not approved to habitate in the US, then we want the courts to address it properly; see the table below for numerous contests on DHS legalities. However, suppose an architect desires the freedom to design safe detention facilities. In that case, the contract would stipulate that the DHS client cannot alter the design and would require the client to refrain from undertaking illegal confinements. That said, there are also ethical concerns to consider, as well as the definitions of 'patriot', 'citizen', 'crime', and so on. 

Potentially Illegal or Legally Contested DHS Tactics - Summary Table

What do you think about Accepting a Commission to be the Architect for an ICE Detention Center?  ICE now has the budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the strongest national militaries on the planet.  Do you want to be part of the advancement of the current policies of the US DHS by putting your stamp on permit drawings for new detention facilities?

What do you think about Accepting a Commission to be the Architect for an ICE Detention Center?  ICE now has the budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the strongest national militaries on the planet.  Do you want to be part of the advancement of the current policies of the US DHS by putting your stamp on permit drawings for new detention facilities?

What do you think about Accepting a Commission to be the Architect for an ICE Detention Center?  ICE now has the budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the strongest national militaries on the planet.  Do you want to be part of the advancement of the current policies of the US DHS by putting your stamp on permit drawings for new detention facilities?

What comes to mind for me is how does being an architect for an ICE detention Center match up - or not - with the AIA code of ethics?

What do you think about Accepting a Commission to be the Architect for an ICE Detention Center?  ICE now has the budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the strongest national militaries on the planet.  Do you want to be part of the advancement of the current policies of the US DHS by putting your stamp on permit drawings for new detention facilities?

What do you think about Accepting a Commission to be the Architect for an ICE Detention Center?  ICE now has the budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the strongest national militaries on the planet.  Do you want to be part of the advancement of the current policies of the US DHS by putting your stamp on permit drawings for new detention facilities?

Thank you all for responding to this and for responding with candid opinions and honest thoughts. I did a quick study on the amount of money we are talking about and that is at this link:    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xBQ0AziRHznN0T9C7pSqeZCK7aRk-LS9z6F7qlZXrOo/edit?usp=sharing

If architect's **** total 5% of the 45 billion, that would be around $2 billion.  Yes, of course, architects will accept these commissions.  The only way I can put a visual scale to this amount of construction work is to think in terms of the cost to build a new MLB stadium, something we have all probably experienced in real life. This is 30 new MLB ballparks.  I will repeat that.  The amount of money now dedicated to ICE facilities is equal to 30 new MLB ballparks.  (!!)

Yes, this was voted on by a majority of our representatives in Congress.  We elected those representatives.  Therefore, the question is, do you feel that your representative voted in line with the majority of their constituents, or did they vote in line with political pressure tactics by our current administration, and their constituents might disagree.

What happens at these facilities when those 10 million undocumented people have been all sent back to their countries of origin?  Will we send the homeless there?  Will these become "prisons for profit"?  What if, instead, half of that amount, $22.5 billion, was spent on hiring asylum attorneys and immigrant case workers, so that we have an efficient, legal, and fair immigration system?

A basic form of protest is non-cooperation.  Don't take part in things that don't make sense.  Don't take part in actions that lean towards an abuse of American's due process rights.

What do you think about Accepting a Commission to be the Architect for an ICE Detention Center?  ICE now has the budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the strongest national militaries on the planet.  Do you want to be part of the advancement of the current policies of the US DHS by putting your stamp on permit drawings for new detention facilities?

What do you think about Accepting a Commission to be the Architect for an ICE Detention Center?  ICE now has the budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the strongest national militaries on the planet.  Do you want to be part of the advancement of the current policies of the US DHS by putting your stamp on permit drawings for new detention facilities?

What do you think about Accepting a Commission to be the Architect for an ICE Detention Center?  ICE now has the budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the strongest national militaries on the planet.  Do you want to be part of the advancement of the current policies of the US DHS by putting your stamp on permit drawings for new detention facilities?

This is a heavy topic, and it's completely understandable why you're asking this. It raises numerous ethical and moral questions that architects and other professionals encounter when evaluating a project.

On one hand, there's the professional obligation and the business side of things. An architect's job is to take on commissions, and a project like this could be financially significant. Some might argue that an architect's role is simply to provide a service and that their personal politics shouldn't factor into the work they do. The argument could be made that if they turn it down, another architect will just take the job anyway.

On the other hand, there's the moral and ethical dimension. Many people feel strongly about the policies and actions of ICE, particularly regarding the treatment of detainees and the separation of families. Designing a facility like a detention center could be seen as directly contributing to these policies and, by extension, to the human rights issues associated with them. For some, the thought of using their skills to create something that could house people in a way they find morally unacceptable is a boundary they cannot cross.

Ultimately, there isn't a single "right" answer. This is a personal decision that each architect would have to make for themselves, weighing their professional responsibilities against their personal values and ethics. It's a powerful example of how our work can intersect with complex and controversial social and political issues.

What do you think about Accepting a Commission to be the Architect for an ICE Detention Center?  ICE now has the budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the strongest national militaries on the planet.  Do you want to be part of the advancement of the current policies of the US DHS by putting your stamp on permit drawings for new detention facilities?

What do you think about Accepting a Commission to be the Architect for an ICE Detention Center?  ICE now has the budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the strongest national militaries on the planet.  Do you want to be part of the advancement of the current policies of the US DHS by putting your stamp on permit drawings for new detention facilities?

Thank you all once again for carefully and thoughtfully responding to this.  I will copy again below my recent analysis of the massive amount of money being spent on this.

I personally don't find any correct argument for an architect taking part in this, although I know that some will.  Again, this administration is now authorized to spend the equivalent of 30 MLB stadiums on new detention facilities.  If that money was alternatively spent on rational immigration reform measures, we could solve the problem without detaining a 50-year-old farm worker that has been in the USA for 30 years.

But my real fear is that the "detention-industrial-complex" will not be able to really find a use for this much space, so it will decide to expand the rules on who is a danger to the administration.  Protesters?  Left-of-Center Journalists?  Pro-Democracy college professors?

Thank you again !!

Thank you all for responding to this and for responding with candid opinions and honest thoughts. I did a quick study on the amount of money we are talking about and that is at this link:    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xBQ0AziRHznN0T9C7pSqeZCK7aRk-LS9z6F7qlZXrOo/edit?usp=sharing

If architect's **** total 5% of the 45 billion, that would be around $2 billion.  Yes, of course, architects will accept these commissions.  The only way I can put a visual scale to this amount of construction work is to think in terms of the cost to build a new MLB stadium, something we have all probably experienced in real life. This is 30 new MLB ballparks.  I will repeat that.  The amount of money now dedicated to ICE facilities is equal to 30 new MLB ballparks.  (!!)

Yes, this was voted on by a majority of our representatives in Congress.  We elected those representatives.  Therefore, the question is, do you feel that your representative voted in line with the majority of their constituents, or did they vote in line with political pressure tactics by our current administration, and their constituents might disagree.

What happens at these facilities when those 10 million undocumented people have been all sent back to their countries of origin?  Will we send the homeless there?  Will these become "prisons for profit"?  What if, instead, half of that amount, $22.5 billion, was spent on hiring asylum attorneys and immigrant case workers, so that we have an efficient, legal, and fair immigration system?

A basic form of protest is non-cooperation.  Don't take part in things that don't make sense.  Don't take part in actions that lean towards an abuse of American's due process rights.

What do you think about Accepting a Commission to be the Architect for an ICE Detention Center?  ICE now has the budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the strongest national militaries on the planet.  Do you want to be part of the advancement of the current policies of the US DHS by putting your stamp on permit drawings for new detention facilities?

Thank you all once again for carefully and thoughtfully responding to this.  I will copy again below my recent analysis of the massive amount of money being spent on this.

I personally don't find any correct argument for an architect taking part in this, although I know that some will.  Again, this administration is now authorized to spend the equivalent of 30 MLB stadiums on new detention facilities.  If that money was alternatively spent on rational immigration reform measures, we could solve the problem without detaining a 50-year-old farm worker that has been in the USA for 30 years.

But my real fear is that the "detention-industrial-complex" will not be able to really find a use for this much space, so it will decide to expand the rules on who is a danger to the administration.  Protesters?  Left-of-Center Journalists?  Pro-Democracy college professors?

Thank you again !!

Thank you all for responding to this and for responding with candid opinions and honest thoughts. I did a quick study on the amount of money we are talking about and that is at this link:    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xBQ0AziRHznN0T9C7pSqeZCK7aRk-LS9z6F7qlZXrOo/edit?usp=sharing

If architect's **** total 5% of the 45 billion, that would be around $2 billion.  Yes, of course, architects will accept these commissions.  The only way I can put a visual scale to this amount of construction work is to think in terms of the cost to build a new MLB stadium, something we have all probably experienced in real life. This is 30 new MLB ballparks.  I will repeat that.  The amount of money now dedicated to ICE facilities is equal to 30 new MLB ballparks.  (!!)

Yes, this was voted on by a majority of our representatives in Congress.  We elected those representatives.  Therefore, the question is, do you feel that your representative voted in line with the majority of their constituents, or did they vote in line with political pressure tactics by our current administration, and their constituents might disagree.

What happens at these facilities when those 10 million undocumented people have been all sent back to their countries of origin?  Will we send the homeless there?  Will these become "prisons for profit"?  What if, instead, half of that amount, $22.5 billion, was spent on hiring asylum attorneys and immigrant case workers, so that we have an efficient, legal, and fair immigration system?

A basic form of protest is non-cooperation.  Don't take part in things that don't make sense.  Don't take part in actions that lean towards an abuse of American's due process rights.

What do you think about Accepting a Commission to be the Architect for an ICE Detention Center?  ICE now has the budget of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the strongest national militaries on the planet.  Do you want to be part of the advancement of the current policies of the US DHS by putting your stamp on permit drawings for new detention facilities?