nettlebed

So, I got my I-797 NOA Welcome letter yesterday, which was nice.

One thing it stated, however, was that I have to carry the Green Card with me at all times. This got me wondering: given that I don't have to carry identification with me if I am just going about my business (yes, I know that if I'm driving I have to have my license with me), in what circumstances could anybody, e.g. a police officer, demand to see my GC, and how would they even know I had one to show?

Just curious...

Noorah101

This subject came up in here not too long ago. It was determined that you must carry the green card with you at all times. Not sure what the consequences are if you don't. I suppose any authorized officer can ask to see it at any time. I guess it depends how "foreign" you look whether you'll be asked for that or not...

My Iranian husband was traveling on business by car into Texas a couple of months ago. There was a border control check going on, they were stopping every car and asking for IDs and such. He showed them is Arizona ID card, and they wanted to see his green card. He had to explain in his limited English that his wife is American and he's waiting for his green card. So evidently in a situation like that, you'll be asked to show your green card. They did a check on him and waved him on through.

Best Wishes,
Rene

Hypertweeky

I though they didn't have the authority to ask you for your green card
I have never had this happened to me!

Simon&Vik

According to a statement that Rep Hostettler (Chairman of Subcommittee on Immigration) said that was broadcast on CSPAN, if you get pulled over or whatever & you can't prove you belong here, you can be deported immediately. No *right* to a phone call. No *right* to a chance to go home to show them your Visa or Green Card.

Who knows how often this is *actually* done, but this is what he said *can* be done under the current law.

My hubby is absent minded, so he doesn't carry his actual Visa around for fear of losing the real thing, but he does carry a photocopy.

robskatie

Gosh didn't know that! I do carry mine with me but i'm also worried that one day I will manage to lose it!!

Simon&Vik

Be sure you have copies of it. They can surely get new copies issued when lost. But I bet you'll need the numbers, and that it would *still* be a pain, a long process, & expensive...

nettlebed

Actually, I just did a bot of searching and came up with this:

http://www.lawhelp.org/WA/showdocume...deid/1811400#e

Apparently the 4th Amendment (does that still exist?) means that without reasonable cause you can not be required to produce evidence unless they have reasonable grounds to suspect you can not do so. In practice, I guess this means that you could be in a heap of incovenience at the very least for refusal to produce the card at once, even if you are carrying it. Not carrying it is a misdemeanour.

Simon&Vik

But those are rights for *citizens.* If they don't believe you're a citizen...

And what can count as "reasonable cause" to suspect someone for not being here legally? I'm betting that, like finding a "reason" to pull someone over, it's easy to come up with a "reason" if the officer wants to for whatever reason. I could be wrong, but...

ian-mstm

I'm pretty sure the US Constitution protects everyone on US soil - whether they are citizens or not, illegal immigrants or not... everyone!

Ian

Hypertweeky

They bet!!!

bridgecross

As a USC, this issue seems kind of strange. If a police officer confronts me, he cannot demand that I prove my residence status or citizenship. Most of us don't have passports, and in any case we don't walk around with them. The US does not have a "national identification card" (a HUGE issue with privacy activists on both the left and right). And if I'm not actually driving an automobile, there's no reason the cop should expect me to have any identification at all! (Of course that's just theory, I realize that in reality most people need to carry ID for various purposes. Also living in New York City might give me a skewed perspective, since most people I know never drive. Going out to the movies with nothing but your house keys should be perfectly acceptable.)
So how does an "authorized officer" make the determination that he may demand a higher level of documentation from someone? At any time, right on the spot? By accent? Skin color? Funny hat? Shifty eyes? It seems almost absurd.

Hypertweeky

In Spain if you don't have an ID and you are over 18 (kids are not out by themselves obviously) you can get a heck of a fine!
We should work on that here

bridgecross

I don't think I can even begin to describe my reaction to that as a USC. It's part of the American myth that is drilled into us from an early age; that we may live our lives, and move about, without scrutiny, completely unfettered. (Cue soaring eagles, waving flags and associated dreck). I consider myself a flaming lefty, but the idea of requiring every citizen to carry ID give me the heebie-jeebies. I'm glad that I have a Social Security Number, but I'm equally glad that it's not required that I have one.

MightBe

Last time I looked up this point on the USCIS site, it contradicts itself a bit but make sense, as below : http://uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/PermRes.htm
Permanent Resident Card
The Permanent Resident Card, Form I-551, is issued to all Permanent Residents as evidence of alien registration and their permanent status in the US. The card must be in your possession at all times. While that does not require that you have on your person at all times, it does require that you have a currently valid card and that you know where it is and can show it to an immigration officer, if requested. The Permanent Resident Card currently is issued with a 10-year validity. You status as a Permanent Resident does not expire with the 10-year validity. Only the card expires. The card is only valid up to the expiration date and must be renewed before it expires.

Trent

I was going to post the link to the same information that MightBe posted. "Must be in your possession" does not mean that you have to keep it in your pocket. It means that you should be able to produce it in a reasonable amount of time.(It should not be sitting at your uncle's place in Mexico). This is a major misconception and I have seen people passing over incorrect information to others that they MUST carry their I-551 at all times which is not "legally" required.

A very good scenario given to me by a senior attorney was that, let's assume that a foriengn-looking US Citizen is pulled over and even though he/she is a U.S. Citizen, what proof of US Citizenship does he/she have at the spot? None. Any sane naturalized citizen would not have his Certificate of Naturalization in his possession all the time to prove that he is a Naturalized Citizen.

Also, if you were born in the United States to naturalized parents (i.e. "foreign-looking"), and you gained your citizenship status through birth, the law requiring all LPRs to carry their card will be unjust because then all natural-born citizens should be required to carry their birth certificate with them AT ALL TIMES.

Thank God we're not living in a police state and the consititution protects us all equally regardless of immigration status.