I've posted about the mistaken notion that SB1070 pretty much just requires drivers to have driver's licenses with them. SB1070 "stops" can range from traffic stops to street stops to overgrown-lawn stops.
Oh, and even if it's a traffic stop, an out-of-state driver's license is no good. It needs to be an Arizona license.
And even with traffic stops, passengers can be asked for ID. In many cases, passengers are the prime suspects. Unless we institute a mandatory national ID card, passengers aren't required to have drivers' licenses or any other form of ID.
That means during any "stop," someone who looks reasonably suspicious to a police officer and is a U.S. citizen without a driver's license is likely to take a trip down to the police station to wait until someone else can bring the proper papers.
If the "proper papers" exist.
According to an Examiner article, lots of people don't have "proper papers."
[O]nly about 68 million Americans or 22% even have passports. Probably fewer than 30% have certified birth certificates. Therefore, Arizona SB 1070 may even lead to the legal long-term imprisonment and deportation of an American citizen.
I haven't checked the accuracy of the numbers, but even if they're not exactly correct, it points to a serious problem for U.S. citizens who are considered "reasonably suspicious" by a police officer. It could take a considerable amount of time and effort to determine that person's legality.
But I qualify as white, so I guess I shouldn't worry. It won't happen to me.
Though maybe I should think about how I would feel if I was wrongly hauled down to the police station simply because I didn't have papers on me, and my family had to dig up the proper papers, if I had them.
Or how I would feel if it was my wife. Or my mother. Or my grandmother. Or my child. Or . . .
But there I go again, using that liberal, bleeding heart empathy gene that seems to be missing from most conservatives' DNA.
I recently celebrated my 75th year on this planet. I never saw my official birth certificate until 8 years ago when I obtained a certified copy thinking I might get a passport. Yet I obtained a driver's license in my birth state, registered to vote (on a 4 page application form and paid a poll tax)and do not recall ever having to prove where I was born. I moved to various states, by reciprocity obtaining driver's licenses and voter registration as I relocated, most recently in Arizona. My name is different from that on my birth certificate, as I was married at one time, so in addition to my birth certificate I really should carry my marriage and divorce papers to prove that I am me. Of course, it is highly unlikely that an officer would have a "reasonable suspicion" that I was born in another country as I am white. Yet, are there no white "illegal aliens" in this country? This law does not pass the sniff test.
Posted by: Meade | May 21, 2010 at 02:30 PM
If I am not mistaken; prior to 1996 a birth certificate, or proof of citizenship was not required to obtain an AZ Drivers License. Therefore, ones AZDL may not keep one out of the slammer. Better carry a backup
Posted by: JT85345 | May 22, 2010 at 05:01 PM