week in state feuds
States whose biggest beef with each othe r typically involves passing a pigskin have gone one step further during this global pandemic by limit ing interBY Leela Berman state travel. Restrictions first began cropping up in ILLUSTRATION Jessy Minker mid-March in states with prominent vacation econoDESIGN Daniel Navratil mies, like Hawaii and Florida, and culminati ng with our dear little Ocean State in late March. This is a far cry from the modus operandi, where state s bicker about who has the best pizza and roadtripp ers are viewed as voyagers, not villains, at hear t. In a nation that was sorely unprepared for this pandemic—with a dilapidated healthcare syste m and a president in denial of the virus’s severity— decis ions about how to address COV ID-19 came down to governors and individual citizens. Some assessed the situ- state boundaries have tightened with the spread of ation and decided to continue their vacations , while COVID-19, the vitriol some Americans like to reserve others fled from hotspots to try to stay safe. Rather for people they assume to come from foreign counthan blame failing infrastructure for the virus’s tries has been extended to out-of-staters. The news rapid spread, many directed their rage at certain caught on, with headlines including the provocative individuals. phrases “Rhode Island Police to Hunt Down New Rhode Island took one of the most pointed stanc es Yorkers Seeking Refuge” and “The Governor Who early on. On March 26, before most other state s had Dissed New Yorkers.” instituted required quarantines, Governor Gina Door-to-door searches for New Yorkers were Raimondo announced that those traveling from New aimed at reminding them and anyone tempted to York must self-quarantine for 14 days after arriving follow in their footsteps that not following orders in Rhode Island or risk a fine and potential arrest. would, in the words of Governor Raimondo, “come New Yorkers, many fleeing from New York City, were with penalties.” Perhaps she was alluding to the kind largely traveling to Rhode Island beach town s like of public shaming that keeps cropping up around New port. State police and the National Guar d were the world. Whether from police brutally enforcing enlisted to stake out the border, major highways , train quarantine policies or people turning on their neighstations, and airports. Cars with New York license bors with aspirations of vigilante justice, staying at plates were pulled over, drivers’ contact infor mation home is not only celebrated on Instagram stories collected, and copies of Raimondo’s executive order but surveilled the world over. In India, police have handed out. To ensure complete submissio n, the beaten those who disobey quarantine, or made them National Guard perused rental homes and summer do squats and push-ups. Hong Kong punished rulecottages, knocking on doors, searching for those breakers with heavy fines of thousands of dollars. The from the Empire State and demanding that they quargovernment of Nova Scotia encouraged local resiantine—gotta catch ’em all! dents to call the police if they suspected somebody In a New York Times inter view, one beac h of breaking quarantine. Individual people, fleeing town local described seeing a trooper car, lights from harm, become scapegoats in the new pandemic flashing, following a car with a New York license regime. plate. Others shared photos on Facebook of cars As for Rhode Island, during a CNN interview, with New York license plates in parking lots, perhaps Governor Cuomo threatened to sue the state, publicly out of resentment, fear, or a base desire to tattle . As calling the pointed law “absurdit y.” The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island said that police stops based on license plates violated fourth amendment rights. All very unfortunate for those hoping authoritarian measures would help stop the spread of the pandemic in Rhode Island. The Rhode Island solution to this state-on-state drama? Simple: a new authoritarian and exclusionary measure applied equitably to people from all states! Raimondo expanded the quarantine requirement to
THE COLLEGE HILL INDEPENDENT
any visitors or residents returning to Rhode Island. Seven states, including Rhode Island, now require all visitors to self-quarantine for two weeks. Another eight states, including heavyweight big states Texas and Florida, require quarantines for visitors from certain states—mainly, New York and New Jersey. Relative to Little Rhody, these states managed to get by with a little less media attention. Apparently, Rhode Island’s downfall could be located in the execution, with police forces actively searching out cars and homes. Perhaps the lesson is not to start battles with a state about 20 times your size? All these rules were passed via a handy gubernatorial executive order. Raimondo, explaining her decision to the New York Times, said she was less concerned about the public perception of this kind of measure than the image of overflowing hospitals. “I’m focused on outcomes, not optics,” she elaborated. While time will tell if these sorts of quarantines are effective measures for reducing the spread of COVID19, it is clear that these feuds make enemies at a time where we all desperately need (physically-distanced) friends. If the lack of good news is getting you down, know that some states still seem to be getting along. About a week ago, Washington, Oregon, and California donated PPE to New York state (this Indy staff writer humbly thinks that the West Coast is, indeed, the best coast). In recent weeks, a handful of states on both coasts have agreed to coordinate their openings from shutdowns. Perhaps both state feuds and state collaborations come from a similar place: trying to find some sort of solution with little support from the federal government. What’s important to remember is that we’re all in this together, no matter what your license plate might say.
—LB
WEEK IN REVIEW
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