For fellow Americans living in cities where ICE is active, many people, especially those of Hispanic descent, are already carrying around passports on their persons at all times because they’re rightfully afraid of being forcibly disappeared or deported to some random South American country.
A passport card can be obtained for $30 from the Department of State. It is considered exactly equivalent to a passport within the US, but it’s the size of a credit card. It is a valid travel document for land and sea travel within North America and the Caribbean. It also counts as a Real ID. The card is good for ten years.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/card.html
Do not do this if you are transgender or have an X gender marker. They will cancel your passport and tell you to apply for a new one with your sex assigned at birth.
Alternate title:
Give the government $30 to stop violating your civil liberties
Definitive proof of citizenship won’t stop ICE from beating or killing you if you have an accent or non-white skin.
what if i don’t have an accent or non-white skin? they won’t beat me, right?
They might still just execute you in the street if they think you’re talking back to them shrug
Usually
I am not going to lie and say it’s 100% effective. But it most certainly will quickly get you out of ICE’s attention 80% of the time when you are not wanting a confrontation at that time.
From what I’m seeing, ICE doesn’t give a flying fuck if you have a valid ID or not, they’re still going to collar you. Their policy is literally to fuck around first and find out later.
That’s from the videos that get widely shared.
95% of interactions are gonna be them being dicks but backing off when they realize you’re there legally. The other 5% are gonna be the ones you see.
Where do these numbers come from? Internet magic?
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There are many ways to be there legally without being a citizen.
Yeah, and if you have a green card or passport with a visa it’s “probably” fine, unless they’re having a bad day or whatever.
I’m not sure about a passport from a visa waiver country though, because no shot ICE agents know that Lithuanians and Singaporeans can be in the US without a visa.
I’d love to know where 80% comes from. Because I’m in Minnesota and can see what’s happening on our streets. Where are you getting your info from? You sound soooooo sure of yourself and what you are saying contradicts evidence.
You think ICE cares? You think ICE even understands that?
I have been stopped by ICE and was let go after showing my passport card.
It’s not a guarantee, but it doesn’t hurt.
They can still just detain you because they can steal it or say there’s no way to verify your passport or ID isn’t fraudulent without further investigation so how about you spend a few days or weeks in jail while we sort it out 😉
But yes it is still a good idea and won’t hurt
I’m 100% not showing my papers.
I have papers, they’re holstered and chambered. there’s about 17 pages of papers too.
Having a passport card will definitely make it easier for the deportation official to release you after assault you, put you in handcuffs and take you to the station for speaking Spanish in a Mexican restaurant.
Do not do this if you are transgender or have an X gender marker.
Warnins should probably be bigger and up front, but that’s just me
Apparently ICE doesn’t have to look at it.
Ah, just like Trump wanted.
What a time to be alive.
Good tip That’s actually really useful to know. Super affordable, easy to carry, and solid proof of citizenship for everyday situations. Definitely worth it for peace of mind.
If you have to prove you have rights then no one has rights.
YSK if ICE thinks you’re too brown, they’ll just say yours is fake and deport you anyway. It’s already happened to US citizens.
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Deadset. Which moron actually thinks mexican-looking peoples with actual passports are being approached on the streets and let go??
Source on this please!
A REAL ID is also valid proof of citizenship. ICE clearly does not care.
REAL IDs are not proof of citizenship. They’re proof that you had legal status at the time of their issue.
Would be a useful tip in a world where ICE follows the law.
You’re trolling right? No one should need to unlawfully identify themselves at the bequest of nazis.
Should is a funny word
What should be is not the same as what is.
Don’t comply
This is a difficult thing to respond to. I (Asian, US citizen) have actually been stopped by ICE because I live in Portland, Oregon. I gave them my passport card and they said, “okay, you can go”. I then cussed them out, saying “You blind motherfuckers, you aren’t even good at being racist; do I look Mexican to you?”
They told me to fuck off. And I did, after giving them the middle finger and calling them “fucking Blackshirts”. But this interaction accomplished what I wanted it to: it (1) caused aggravation, (2) shows them that they aren’t welcome and (3) that their presence is not appreciated. In hindsight, I should have stayed and argued to waste their time.
If I had just refused to do anything the whole time, the most likely outcome was that I would have been taken to the ICE facility in downtown Portland and accosted for a few hours, accomplishing nothing.
“You blind motherfuckers, you aren’t even good at being racist; do I look Mexican to you?”
Right… because it was only a problem because you’re Asian… the stop would have been fine if you were actually Mexican… gee thanks.
You must understand, that the goal of saying that was to cause aggravation. Had I been Mexican I would have chosen a different insult.
What IS is that they don’t care about little pieces of paper in your wallet.
I got checked by ICE in Portland and they let me go when I gave them my passport card. Of course, it really does depend on whether you got an agent with an IQ of 90 or an IQ of 70. But it doesn’t hurt to have one.
