In a talk in Los Angeles launching an art exhibition called "Speculative," Rita Raley discussed her interest in "affirmative speculation," under which she included three notions.

1. Sabotage and Tactical Media, through which artists are "recoding existing codes."
2. World-making, which is capable of thinking social and technological change togehter
3. Affective positivity, an attitude against the dominance of vision, a risk that makes life worth living. 

By these terms, the Transborder Immigrant Tool presents an act of affirmative speculation, though as Duncan D. Hunter and Fox News demonstrate, "affirmation" is in the mind of the deployer.

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