Must she carry her green card daily?

[SuperDuper! 230]

Well, the governing law in this situation is INA 264(e): Every alien, eighteen years of age and over, shall at all times carry with him and have in his personal possession any certificate of alien registration or alien registration receipt card issued to him pursuant to subsection (d) of this section. Any alien who fails to comply with the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall upon conviction for each offense be fined not to exceed $100 or be imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both.

So... If you want to have a misdemeanor on your record plus possibly $100 fine plus possibly up to 30 day jail, then suit yourself.

So they will be rounding up all the Jury Duty Scofflaws with all the Green Card non- compliance holders before all of the THOUSANDS of FELONY, and VIOLENT arrest warrants that are on the police backlog ACROSS the USA?

The jails everywhere are already PACKED at 200% capacity, and tax payers refuse to fund more prisons and jails as it is.....

Hey, if you still don;t believe it, then enforce Jay Walking and other misdemeanor crimes that threaten Jail TIme. My favorite is the warning before EVERY movie: 6 months in Jail for stealing this movie

I woke up and smelled the coffee and reality...about 16 years ago.....Good luck, though. Peace

[rika60607 215]

Some laws need to change. There are towns where you are forbidden to howl like a wolf and to take a bath.

Just Bob, I am curious, how did you come up with the 25% chance of loosing the green card. Anyhow, in your cost/benefit analysis you are missing the fact that the cheap and convenient solution violates federal law. Other than that, your logic is undeniable.

[DrVS 10]

Some laws need to change.

I agree. But if you strongly believe that the law is wrong, you should petition your senate representative, start awareness campaign, etc. Breaking the silly (in your opinion) law is still breaking the law.

So they will be rounding up all the Jury Duty Scofflaws with all the Green Card non- compliance holders before all of the THOUSANDS of FELONY, and VIOLENT arrest warrants that are on the police backlog ACROSS the USA?

The jails everywhere are already PACKED at 200% capacity, and tax payers refuse to fund more prisons and jails as it is.....

Hey, if you still don;t believe it, then enforce Jay Walking and other misdemeanor crimes that threaten Jail TIme. My favorite is the warning before EVERY movie: 6 months in Jail for stealing this movie

I agree, there is very slim chance you will ever be prosecuted under this statute, but that's not the point I am trying to make. There is a variety of petty crimes I can commit with high probability of never being caught or prosecuted for. This is not however the reason I do not commit them. I understand that there are people who feel otherwise.

Edited June 2, 2011 by DrVS

[TBoneTX 45,090]

And, I believe that anyone who is detained ONCE for not carrying a green card will not be eager to repeat the experience. Does anyone relish the thought of spending a few hours, let alone a day or more, incarcerated with a bunch of felons, narco-traffickers, murderers, rapists, MS-13 gang members, and God knows who else? If you're the USC and love your spouse, one would think that you would do everything in your power to protect your loved one from the above easily preventable spectre. Federal agents (and their local & state accomplices) are in more places than we expect, and they're NOT understanding and they're NOT our friends.

Edited June 3, 2011 by TBoneTX

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

T Bone, stop scaring the children. Here in the real world no "normal" person living a "normal" life will ever come in contact with USCIS, ICE, or CBP officers outside the country's borders, interstate checkpoints, and government buildings. If we were to transfer your scare tactics to the normal life, one should not set cross a street in order to avoid being run over by a car, should not go to a liquor store in order to avoid being mugged, and not drive to San Diego in order to avoid being kidnapped and assassinated by the Mexican drug cartel.

I don't know where you live, but I live in Southern California for close to 20 years and I have never even seen a guy with an ICE jacket, except on TV, and my business is in the poor part of town, where the Hispanic population is in the clear majority over us Gringos.

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Why even worry about carrying it? There are 10 million+ illegals in the country who work, drive and insure cars, own their own businesses, get licenses from the town and state to operate a business, travel freely throughout the country by car, plane, etc, use fake ss# for work, don't file taxes, etc etc etc and nothing happens to them.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Some laws need to change. There are towns where you are forbidden to howl like a wolf and to take a bath.

In Iowa it's illegal to accept tips/gratuities yet it happens all over the place because tipping is normal. It seems no-one knows the law is there but it's listed in one of the "stupid state laws" sites. Funny really.

[TBoneTX 45,090]

If we were to transfer your scare tactics to the normal life, one should not set cross a street in order to avoid being run over by a car, should not go to a liquor store in order to avoid being mugged, and not drive to San Diego in order to avoid being kidnapped and assassinated by the Mexican drug cartel.

The analogy isn't correct. Try to carry a color photocopy of your driver's license and present it to a law-enforcement officer or as identification, and see how far it gets you. Multiply the ominous implications by several powers of magnitude with the green card on a Federal level.

People here are free to disregard a very clear law and feel great that they won't lose their green card. The fact remains that they may not have the green card on them when they need it, and that's when they'll regret their decision not to carry it.

[sjr09 155]

[Loving Neneng 1]

Very Funny!!

[rika60607 215]

Gandhi would disagree with you

Besides, I am not USC, so they are not MY representatives.

I agree. But if you strongly believe that the law is wrong, you should petition your senate representative, start awareness campaign, etc. Breaking the silly (in your opinion) law is still breaking the law.

[sennix 1]

In some States, if a police pulled you over asking for your driver license, he/she will check your immigration status as well; and, the next thing they will ask for is you current valid green card. Yes, the holograms-imprinted plastic one, not a photocopy. Georgia is one of them now.

Spoken from experience.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

In some States, if a police pulled you over asking for your driver license, he/she will check your immigration status as well; and, the next thing they will ask for is you current valid green card. Yes, the holograms-imprinted plastic one, not a photocopy. Georgia is one of them now.

Spoken from experience.

Georgia is the only one, not "one of them" and it's only a matter of weeks until a federal judge will put an injunction on this, as it interferes with federal law and the supremacy clause.

[katiemanny 64]

In some States, if a police pulled you over asking for your driver license, he/she will check your immigration status as well; and, the next thing they will ask for is you current valid green card. Yes, the holograms-imprinted plastic one, not a photocopy. Georgia is one of them now.

Spoken from experience.

So what the Police will check if average Larry the cable guy got pulled over, or someone who look like George Lopez? I will never carry my GC with me for that purpose, unless is it free to replace. As long as I have my DL, proof of insurance and registration current I'm not intimated.

Edited June 7, 2011 by katiemanny

[JeremyR 8]

Georgia is the only one, not "one of them" and it's only a matter of weeks until a federal judge will put an injunction on this, as it interferes with federal law and the supremacy clause.

If it goes into affect in a few weeks (and I agree with you, that's a big 'if'!), HB 87 as it stands does not give officers the ability to demand a GC from any foreigner they pull over for having a tail light out just because they feel like it.

To be able to ask about a suspect's immigration status, the officer has to be investigating a criminal offence. Traffic stops aren't normally made regarding criminal matters. Secondly, you don't have to show a GC or other immigration document to satisfy HB 87's requirements. A GA driver's license or ID, or one from any state that requires proof of lawful presence to get a license (that's all of them, right?) is sufficient to demonstrate lawful presence for purposes of that particular law. It's an entirely separate issue from the requirement to carry your green card.

Further reading: HB 87 (see Section 8).