carrying GC

B

bhoonbhu

Registered Users (C)
wanted an opinion from realcanadian, joef, ginnu and others;

since as permanent residents one has to carry "proof of permanent residence" at all times; what is the general consensus/practice among member of the forum: are we carrying the actual card/ copy of it marked as such/ welcome letter......

any inputs/suggestions
 
there has been a lot of discussion on this topic....use the search function and you will get various opinions there from all the people you mentioned plus lots more
 
gettingclosernow said:
there has been a lot of discussion on this topic....use the search function and you will get various opinions there from all the people you mentioned plus lots more
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could you direct me to the links.....I couldn't find any with the search string I'm entering....
 
what word did you put in the search field? potato? tuna? russia? If you can't do a simple thing like search, don't bother asking the question.

I put in carry and got easily a dozen threads come up. Come on use your head and take some initiative.
 
Let me take the liberty to summarize all discutsions on this issue

1. JoeF insist one should carry the real GC all the times and he claim he has been doing so all the time

2. Most others said it is good enough to carry a photo copy of the green card
(write "this is a photocopy of the original GC" on teh copy to fend off
forgery charge)

Out of above 2, some also carry the GC on some domestioc trips
that is significantly faraway from home.

You should make informed choices
 
gettingclosernow said:
what word did you put in the search field? potato? tuna? russia? If you can't do a simple thing like search, don't bother asking the question.

I put in carry and got easily a dozen threads come up. Come on use your head and take some initiative.
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relax man, no need to lose your temper.
 
the law says if you are over 18 you must have it in your personal possession at all times. This does not mean you have to carry it with you at all times.

There is a pending court case that discusses whether a police officer has a right to ask for it.

United states is not a police state with checkpoint everywhere checking documents. There is no law that says you must carry some form of ID with you wherever you go. You only need to have your Driver's license when in fact you are actually driving.

since most places such as government buildings and airports check ID it only makes sense to just carry your Drivers license only. If you don't drive you should get one of those state ID cards. If you ever get questioned by a police officer you show them your Driver's license or state id only. All they really need to know is who you are. You don't need to offer them more information then they need. Also if they really want to know your status they can just simply run your ssn or DL number.

The only times you absolutely must have it on you is when you set foot inside an INS office, applying for government assistance, applying for a job, enrolling in school, getting a drivers license, setting foot out of or close to a US border, or setting foot inside a major US airport for an international flight.

The more often you carry it around with you the more chance you have of losing it and having to pay that $90 fee to get a new one.
 
JoeF said:
Ah, the beauty of selective quoting ;)
Actually, the law says that you have to carry it with you and in your personal possession at all times.
INA 264(e):
"(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). 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."
Here in LA, and in Arizona, they can.
And a "certificate of registration", if you are not a US citizen. Google for the Texas Raid of 2000, if you want to know what can happen if you don't have it with you (here's a hint: arrest...)
Here is a quote from one of the sites:
"Since most programmers pleaded that they kept their important documents at home or in bank vaults, they were escorted to their residences or banking institutions. At the residences, they were escorted under armed guard in handcuffs in front of their neighbors. The officers would conduct searches of the apartment for hidden persons and/or firearms. These searches occurred without a warrant or permission of the resident. Even after producing original work visas and passports, many were taken to an INS detention facility."
You always have to carry it with you, according to law.
Oh, this old strawman again. Are you losing stuff all the time???
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I have a quick question to JoeF and all the others who have suggested carrying GC. How does an enforcement officer know an individual is an alien, that he/she demands alien registration card? As per the law (and I agree it might be different in practice), they cannot do profiling (e.g. racial profiling).
I completely agree that there might be instances where INS just goes overboard and throws u in jail (e.g. the guy who had not filed address change), but (hopefully) the judicial system remedies that.
Also, as far as the Texas Raid is concerned, what happened to them afterward. Were they charged with a misdemeanour?
My intention is not to offend anyone, just something came to my mind, reading this post.
 
JoeF said:
The I-94 was stapled in my passport, and I didn't want to carry the passport around.
Besides, that was what lawyers recommended.
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That is why you should be easy on those who think carrying
a copy of GC is good enough.
 
JoeF I also suppose you make a full and complete stop at every stop sign and you never go above 65 mph on highways either.

I too am familiar with that texas raid and many others. There also were people there who had proper documentation on them and they too were detained right along with the rest of the workers.

If you are a gc holder my advice would simply be to not work in a place that employs undocumented workers.

Even though I question the enforceability of this law I will assume for the sake of arguement that your interpretation JoeF may be correct.

I still argue that it is really impractical and a true waste of wallet space to carry this card wherever you go. It is not even legally a valid form of ID. The sole purpose of this single card is to establish that you are a permanent resident -- and nothing else.

My advice still would be to carry it only for those instances I cited earlier. If you are going to carry it, don't use it as a form of ID because certain places may not accept it and don't show it to anyone unless it is someone of authority who has asked for it.
 
bb_5555 said:
JoeF I also suppose you make a full and complete stop at every stop sign and you never go above 65 mph on highways either.
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Actually one should make a full and complete stop at every stop sign,
otherwise you increase youir chance to get deported from this world
not only USA. You may say what is the point of stop at a stop
sign in a desert without anyone 20 mile snearby, but once
you take a case-by-case approach with stop sign, sooner or
later you will not stop at a stop sign you should stop
even by circumstances
 
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bb_5555 said:
I still argue that it is really impractical and a true waste of wallet space to carry this card wherever you go. It is not even legally a valid form of ID. The sole purpose of this single card is to establish that you are a permanent resident -- and nothing else.
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In my personal opinion, that is impractical because at some point you won't remember where you kept it - your wallet, locker, travel bag, dining-table or somewhere else. On the contrary to your argument, there are more chances of loosing/misplacing your green card when you keep on and off in your wallet.

You got to ask yourself how many times you lost your driver license. So your chances of loosing GC is as much your drivers license.

bb_5555 said:
My advice still would be to carry it only for those instances I cited earlier. If you are going to carry it, don't use it as a form of ID because certain places may not accept it and don't show it to anyone unless it is someone of authority who has asked for it.
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GC and EAD cards are valid form of photo IDs because they contain person's picture, name and DOB. Many places they ask "show me your drivers license" does not mean drivers license is the only acceptable form of photo ID to them and they are not going to accept other documents. Passport, State ID, EAD, GC are all valid form of IDs.
 
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JoeF said:
They can ask you...
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They should be asking everybody, right. They cannot go and say, this guys looks like an hispanic or asian, let me ask the proof, whereas this guys is blond white, so i dont need to ask anything. If thats the case, citizens would have to prove that they are citizen too. I am just saying that the law as written is pretty difficult to enforce.

JoeF said:
If you falsely claim to be a US citizen you would commit a felony.
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and you are permanently disbarred from entering the US of A
JoeF said:
This resulted in such an outcry that INS dropped the charges, but their employers were fined. Essentially, their H1s did not specify this particular work location, so technically, they were in violation of the law. But since that was their employers' fault (the employers should have filed amendments), the employers got fined.
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So the issue here was, they did not have proper documentation or they did not carry that documentation with them. (Sorry, I am not too aware about this).

JoeF said:
For me personally, that was the wakeup call. Since then, as lawyers recommended in the wake of that raid, I carried a copy of my I-94, and since having the GC, I carry it. Before I got the actual GC, I was driving in New Mexico on vacation, and came across one of these inland checkpoints.I had my passport with the I-551 stamp with me, as per the requirements.
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Goes along with Q1. at those inland checkpoints was every car stopped? If yes, that answers all my questions.

- Thanks
 
ma21 said:
They should be asking everybody, right. They cannot go and say, this guys looks like an hispanic or asian, let me ask the proof, whereas this guys is blond white, so i dont need to ask anything. If thats the case, citizens would have to prove that they are citizen too. I am just saying that the law as written is pretty difficult to enforce.
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There is no law that says that they have to ask "everybody". It's like saying either cops have to give speeding tickets to everybody whoever is speeding on roads, otherwise they cannot give ticket to one person. They can ask selectively, as long it not discriminatory or racially biased. Yes, skin color, look can make difference - unfortunately. But proving it racially based - that's another chapter. Did you hear those lawsuits where NYPD used to stop and harass black drivers more often? One of my pakistani friend, who needs to travel frequently due to his business, gets stopped and searched very often in airport in so-called "random checks". He just wonders what the probability of getting picked up "randonly" from millions of travelers.
 
pralay said:
There is no law that says that they have to ask "everybody". It's like saying either cops have to give speeding tickets to everybody whoever is speeding on roads, otherwise they cannot give ticket to one person. They can ask selectively, as long it not discriminatory or racially biased. Yes, skin color, look can make difference - unfortunately. But proving it racially based - that's another chapter. Did you hear those lawsuits where NYPD used to stop and harass black drivers more often? One of my pakistani friend, who needs to travel frequently due to his business, gets stopped and searched very often in airport in so-called "random checks". He just wonders what the probability of getting picked up "randonly" from millions of travelers.
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FOR AN INDIAN "Pakistani Friend" is an Oxymoron ;)
 
pralay said:
There is no law that says that they have to ask "everybody". It's like saying either cops have to give speeding tickets to everybody whoever is speeding on roads, otherwise they cannot give ticket to one person. They can ask selectively, as long it not discriminatory or racially biased. .
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Well, u miss the point. In the case of speeding tickets, the cops have a probable cause and also proof that you have broken the law. So, I dont agree with the anology. Take the example at the US border or for that matter: Can the INS inspector ask for proof selectively?
Also, the inspections at the air-port are not random at all. They are based on a program, I believe TSA calls it "Secure Flight" which is used to determine who gets checked more and others.
 
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