Replies

sweetliberty wrote: If they want to ID somebody, make people who are not citizens have ID. If they are caught without it, deport them. Plain common sense.

Poohbah wrote: May I kindly raise a plain common sense objection?

If the non-citizen isn't carrying the ID, and merely says "I am a citizen," doesn't that kind of negate the idea of having any ID to begin with?

Noncitizens are already supposed to carry their passports and travel documents at all times. (Permanent residents only have to carry their green cards.) Violators may be fined or detained. Other countries require the same for their tourists.
I agree with your objection that the policy is stupid because anyone can claim to be a US citizen without proof, and illegal aliens of course will not carry documents to prove that they are here illegally.

But I don't think citizens should have to carry ID to prove citizenship on an everyday basis. Maybe there should just be some better procedure for employers to verify the citizenship of potential employees they plan to hire.

and illegal aliens of course will not carry documents to prove that they are here illegally.

I have to disagree. If they are carrying a consular ID card, they're illegal. Why would a Mexican tourist/visitor need to get the consular ID if they can get a new passport? Whatever contingency the card was originally intended to cover, it has been superseeded by the coordinated campaign by all consulates to get the cards accepted as valid ID so that illegal aliens are not arrested and deported.