Perm resident detained at airport for not having GC

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chola

Registered Users (C)
A friend of mine - US resident, & GC holder, was traveling within the country on business, when he was detained during ID check in a small town border airport in TX. He showed his drivers license, but that was not good enough.

He was detained for over an hour, questioned, and his info was cheched/validated over phone with some other agency. He was warned that this would be the last time they were taking a lenient view and that he better have his GC on him when he travels next time.

Are gc holders supposed to carry it on person even while traveling within the country?

chola
 
Yes, there is legal obligation to carry it with you at all times.

[8 U.S.C. 1304]
(e) Personal possession of registration or receipt card; penalties
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.
 
If I remember correctly, my GC said "You must carry this at all times" or something like that, right on the card somewhere
 
yay said:
wow, I never carried my GC. But how do they know you are an alien?
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Well, US of A is not diverse enough yet specially in those remote places and lot of people would take you as aliens even after you get naturalized even in metro areas... harsh but truth. :)
 
truedesi said:
Well, US of A is not diverse enough yet specially in those remote places and lot of people would take you as aliens even after you get naturalized even in metro areas... harsh but truth. :)
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Well, All aliens who are not citizens must carry some form of identification that proves the immigration status.

The ID checking in Texas is not just at the border airports but also while driving thro' the road near border towns, there are check points to catch illegal immigrants from the south of the border. Any immigrant in Texas know that one has to carry identification while going South esp towards to South Padre Island/Corpus Christie. All vehicles have to go thro the check posts and prove their identification.

The US Citizens have to just say that they're citizens to pass thro. Well, I guess it doesn't simply work that way for naturalized citizens who doesn't look Caucasian or African American. So after naturalization, the passport card is the way for us. Thats the truth and reality.
 
truedesi said:
I actually do. How do you prove you are a citizen? (I mean you wont carry Nat Cert or Passport all the time).

I have never had carried my GC and I guess luckily haven't had trouble so far.
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Easy, apply for a passport card and carry it with you at all times, that's the closest thing to a Green Card for citizens ;)
 
Huracan said:
Easy, apply for a passport card and carry it with you at all times, that's the closest thing to a Green Card for citizens ;)
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Agree, I thought of that. What about prior to, since they started issuing passport cards?? Would be interesting to know some real experiences specially from people who dont look Caucasian or Afro-American.
 
yay said:
wow, I never carried my GC. But how do they know you are an alien?
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And that is exactly why the rule is dumb and useless. If they don't require everybody including citizens to carry legal papers, it's not going to help catch any illegal aliens. It only helps to catch legal aliens who don't have their papers on them, which is a waste of time.
 
I definitely carry my GC if I travel, especially if I go close to the border. What if I wanted to actually cross the border... I could!
 
Many people don't carry it everywhere because they don't want the card to be lost or stolen, but at least they should make sure they carry it in places where immigration agents are swarming around ... like places within 50 miles of either border, and airports.
 
I live in Missouri

and I dont carry GC unless I'm going out of country. I think a decent, good conversation and explaining to the authorities is enough to get out of it.
 
trrajesh said:
and I dont carry GC unless I'm going out of country. I think a decent, good conversation and explaining to the authorities is enough to get out of it.
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You'll get out of it, but you could still be held for an hour or more before you're released.
 
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