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Jul. 11th, 2007 09:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wrenbI heard about this news story on NPR this morning. Prince William County in Virginia passed a resolution to prevent illegal immigrants from accessing any county services, and have authorized county police to check immigration status.
Leaving aside whether this is a good idea or not, I foresee major implementation issues. A person applying for a library card, arrested or entering a county health clinic may be asked for proof of immigration status/citizenship. I could prove my status (I carry a Resident Alien card) but my DH couldn't on a casual basis because he was born in the US. Are US citizens going to start carrying passports and birth certificates in their wallets?
This is likely to degrade into racial profiling. In order to beat that accusation they're going to have to ask *everyone* to document their citizenship/immigration status. That means not just Hispanics and other brown-skinned people but the 8th generation white American kid who has no passport. That's going to upset people.
Leaving aside whether this is a good idea or not, I foresee major implementation issues. A person applying for a library card, arrested or entering a county health clinic may be asked for proof of immigration status/citizenship. I could prove my status (I carry a Resident Alien card) but my DH couldn't on a casual basis because he was born in the US. Are US citizens going to start carrying passports and birth certificates in their wallets?
This is likely to degrade into racial profiling. In order to beat that accusation they're going to have to ask *everyone* to document their citizenship/immigration status. That means not just Hispanics and other brown-skinned people but the 8th generation white American kid who has no passport. That's going to upset people.
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Date: 2007-07-11 05:20 pm (UTC)I've never applied for a driver's license, but I know my parents didn't have any trouble getting theirs when we were living in the US on a limited visa (Dad could work, Mum couldn't). When Drew and I moved to Wisconsin all that was required for him to get a license was to turn in his Texas one, and I turned in my NJ state ID. Again, no one asked us to prove citizenship. Granted, this was pre-2001.
Social Security Numbers are issued to aliens all the time. So that's not proof of citizenship either.
All the proofs that I can think of are the type of thing that live in my firebox, not things that live in a wallet. Hence, it's an enforcement issue.