#1191
This whole debate about augments, Illyrians and genetic modification is actually ridiculous because that's not even the issue at hand in SNW. Una was not arrested for being an Illyrian regardless of how she and her friends wish to read the situation. She was arrested for lying to Starfleet and inlisting without being a citizen of the Federation or gaining special permission (like asylum), not for existing as an Illyrian. The Federation isn't just being mean to the Illyrians for no reason. The fact that Illyrians practice genetic modification bars their planets/society from joining the Federation per Federation law which is the main beef between the Federation and Illyrians. The Illyrians want to have their cake (genetic modifications) and eat it too (join the Federation without denouncing or discontinuing their "cultural" practice of genetic modifications) and then cry discrimination when the Federation says no you can't join our alliance while doing something we all decided was illegal. And that's important to remember too. The Federation (in canon) doesn't operate by "just cause humans said so". All of the planets in the Federation would have voted on this issue and the majority came to this conclusion: no genetic modifications. So this really isn't a case of Illyrians being treated like second class citizens in the Federation because they aren't citizens of the Federation at all. The Federation isn't discriminating against these people by saying "this illegal practice isn't allowed in our alliance and you can't join while doing it" they're protecting their people's interests and safety by not allowing people who practice something they have deemed unsafe and unethical into their society. The Ghosts of Illyria is where this issue is brought up as the Illyrians that accidentally turned into those light waves or whatever we're trying to step back from modifications so they could join the Federation when they accidentally turned into pure energy during a storm due to the modifications they had already done (a too little too late scenario). This shows that stopping the modifications is a way forward to join the Federation. Because per canon, the Federation has zero issues with Illyrians who don't practice genetic modification joining. They have major issues with Illyrians (Una) lying to them about their citizenship status, species, and the fact that they are genetically modified. But that lack of hate for the people (verses the hate for the practices of those people) is why Una's appeal of emotion works - because she emphasizes that the modifications were done to her, not by her, and that while she grew up in bad conditions, she looked to Starfleet as a safe haven from her homeworld. The Federation then decides to give her asylum from the culture/civilization that did those modifications to her (Illyrians) but make no mistake, if Una goes back to her "cultural" roots and ever genetically modifies her (potential) kids she'd be arrested so fast her head would spin. Because again it's the act of genetically modifying someone that's illegal not being genetically modified. If all Illyrians would stop genetically modifying their children the Federation would let them all join, the Illyrians (for the most part) just don't want to stop and that's a them problem. Sorry for the long confession
