My first police encounter in the US

[Darnell 8,478]

In the US you are not required to carry an ID unless you are operating a motor vehicle.

For a green card holder, that's absolutely not true.

However, the OP doesn't have a green card yet, he's in limbo. I hope they filed the EAD/AP stuff with the I-485, he'll get a federally issued ID soon, prior to the green card issuance.

[No name 88 48]

So you acknowledge what you posted was incorrect?

If your a US citizen you don't have to carry ID in any state.

I decided to do a little digging as I wasn't really sure about green card holders which you were correct about. Half the people posting online say leave it home while the other half say carry it. OK I see where my confusion comes from. It is federal law requiring you to carry your green card (or any visa type) at all times; that'll make bath time awkward. The penalty if found guilty is a misdemeanor, $100 fine and or 30 days in jail. I can't find anyone who was actually charged; I could only find a few people that got harassed and got a verbal warning. It's a strange federal law in this day and age considering ID theft, electronic status verification and that in 49 states police won't ask. It's kinda weird and useless.

I talked to my buddy who's an NJ State Trooper and he laughed about it. His response was that it's a federal law and state/local agencies enforce state/local statutes. He told me he's not even allowed to ask about immigration status during a stop. It's not the states responsibility to enforce immigration laws. He just told me to get the wife a driver's license and it'll never be an issue in NJ.

The only state I found that requires immigration status verification is Arizona which they can ask at all levels of police interaction with the public and they do turn people over to ICE.

I did find that if you live within 100 miles of a US land boarder that ICE and CPB do road checks and are more likely to conduct raids. Arizona, ICE and CPB seem to be the only one's enforcing green card carrying.

There was an anecdotal story on the inter-webs that ICE raided a place with legal permanent residents at a place of work who only had color paper photocopies of the green card in their wallets. On top of the fine for not carrying the card they were charged with criminal accusation of counterfeiting government documents. Personally I think that's just a boogieman story that never happened. I can't find any news stories about it. You have to send a photocopy of your green card to USCIS when you file the N-400. If the card was lost overseas you need to submit a color photocopy of the lost green card to get a transportation letter to come back to the US. This means they expect you to have a photocopy somewhere.

To reissue a green card if lost or stolen is $450 and takes 6 months or longer. If lost you need to get an I-551 stamp so you can travel which can be a pain. My wife is a stay at home mom and wouldn't be working in a place that could be raided by ICE. No one checks for green cards in the New Jersey at the state level.

Based on this I'll be leaving the green card in the safe deposit box and only take it out only for travel/ROC. I'll take my chances with the $100 fine using a photocopy with the word "copy" stamped on the front. My international business travels have conditioned me to never carry my passport no matter what the local laws are. I'll apply the same to the wife. You do what you want. In New Jersey it's illegal to pump your own gas; I break that law every week.

The same rules for green cards actually apply for all visa types. I doubt all the foreign tourists in Disney are carrying their passports. CBP could make a killing by setting up shop at the exit of Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

Edited March 23, 2014 by Todd&Hanh

[Ketsuban 1,034]

I think about 90% of the time I was in the US, I didn't have my passport with me (was on VWP visit). Looking back, I can't believe I put myself in that kind of danger. Having said that, I don't know what the law is in regards to this in Ohio, but I'm going to make sure I keep my passport and green card in my purse from now on.

[Classicrider 3]

You said he was polite... as longs as cops are polite, I am willing to help them any way I can. It was late, maybe something happened somewhere and you fit the discription. A few questions, a little time and he let you go. There are cops who would have made it a big deal that you didn't have ID. I do not agree with your wife about profiling.

[Avery Cates 1,141]

In New Jersey it's illegal to pump your own gas; I break that law every week.

That reminds me of something that happened years ago. I was at a gas station and there was a band from New Jersey who'd come up here to do band stuff. When they got to the gas pump they had absolutely no idea even how to begin. Didn't even know where their gas cap was.

[Emily and Nathan 39]

I think maybe... there could have been a call in the area where the suspect looked like you or something..

hence asking height and weight.. to maybe match a description of someone they could have been looking for..

If the cop was perfectly nice the whole time.. I don't think there is even a need to complain.. They are just doing their job.. and they aren't always nice about it..

I don't get what all the fuss is about when it comes to this stuff.

[sbai2000 31]

Dear OP-

in my opinion there was no racial profiling.... I think the cop was doing his job - it was between 1am-2am in the morning....and your action could have been perceived as "scouting" a neighborhood.

Also, cops do and can ask for immigration papers - all depends on the laws of that state....or even the law of the LOCAL jurisdiction within a state. Remember, while not required, most US citizens and residents do carry ID - whether its a drivers license, state issued ID, greencards, etc.... you had no ID on you and talked about immigration matters. the next stop was to verify your information which he did by asking for your weight and height.

once info was confirmed he let you go without incident.

This is not even a matter to dwell on. In my state, cops are constantly scanning license plates, and truth is, they can stop you for any reason. A cop stopped me at 10pm at night and said my license plate was the same as someone he arrested that morning. Really???!!!! I'm not going to get into a confrontation with an armed cop at 10pm at night! I had done nothing wrong.. so gave him my DL and registration and clearly it was not the same vehicle. So I went on my way...

Hopefully, your wife wont make you too paranoid living in America!

Best of luck.

[Jeremy12095 8]

I believe under federal law you must carry your green card when you are not home. Now as per carrying your id. . There may not be a law on the books but the police may detain you for 24 hours until they can verify who you are. So your right you don't have to carry id and if u get a pissed off cop he could lock you up for the day. Why not just carry your id and avoid extra b.s lol. I've been thrown put of the car before when I was younger as a passenger for not having id. I was also delivering news papers at 2am so it didn't look too good. My wife always carries her green card just to avoid issues. She's never been asked to show it (she has only been asked for her dl) but the law is the law and she abides the law.

Edited March 23, 2014 by Jeremy12095

[Jeremy12095 8]

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=8&ved=0CDUQFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fchangethenypd.org%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2FCPR-know-your-rights.pdf&ei=NgQvU96VG4qtqgGztIHIAw&usg=AFQjCNE1QUabw2FWKx_lWqSonsGRXlxkWg

This is a good booklet for immigrants. It explains a lot of the procedures and how to protect your self.

[Al422 221]

You muist have your passport and visa on your person at all times when you are in a public place. If you were able to produce it that would have made it much easier for you.

Some cops are jerksl, and loose educational requirements on some police forces means a lot of them are not too smart either. It hapens. Sorryit happened to you.

[AnotherLostSoul 167]

I think you explained too much ####### about how you came here that made the cop to have "special interest" in you. I mean as far as people who are in some trouble in one way or the other are the ones who are over explaining themselves so that they sound true. I am not saying you were in trouble, but perhaps this over explanation made the cop to ask more questions. About height and weight, he was just curious if you happen to be in the DMV database at any ways (through state ID, or DL). I would not worry, or chew myself over this too much. He was not a jerk, or was an ####### by any means, so I would say move on with your life and try to just enjoy your daily lives instead of focusing on this. I believe there's really no reason to even think about this for more than two seconds after the incident. Just keep it calm, and take care!

[Soul Froosh 31]

I was out playing guitar in the street back in the summer (on visa waiver). The police approached me. As soon as they heard my accent (English) they asked what I was doing here, for how long, my address etc. The exact same kind of stuff you were asked, including measurements. They just told me to keep the volume down in the end, but they made me feel like I was under arrest.

There were likely just suspicious of where you had congregated at that time and then followed usual procedures.

[JohnR! 5,495]

I think about 90% of the time I was in the US, I didn't have my passport with me (was on VWP visit). Looking back, I can't believe I put myself in that kind of danger. Having said that, I don't know what the law is in regards to this in Ohio, but I'm going to make sure I keep my passport and green card in my purse from now on.

Despite of what the law says, the police does not care if you have your passport or not, even if you are not a citizen. IDs only become an issue if you are doing something that should require an id, such as operating a motor vehicle. I don't believe anyone takes their passports to the beach, or a water park, or to the mall on a Sunday afternoon. It is really a non-issue.

[f&c 50]

I want to share a certain police incident involving me and I am not quite sure what to make of it. While my wife believes there is perhaps a strong element of racial profiling- I myself did not know what to make of it. Originally I am from India but have moved to the US from New Zealand. So basically this is what happened. Every night around 1 am my wife feeds some cats at a trailer near our home. She feeds the cats at night because that is when she comes back from work. Even though the trailer is just about 500 feet away, I never allow my wife to walk up to the trailer alone and I always accompany her. On the day of the incident I requested my wife to drive me around the neighborhood as I was new to this country. So my wife and I were in our truck and once we fed the cats we were about to drive around. At this point we were about 700 feet from our home and near a big shopping area.

A cop pulled us up. The cop requested our ID's, my wife showed her ID but I was not carrying my passport with me then (I did not yet receive my green card). My wife explained to the cop that we lived just a few hundred feet away and in fact showed the cop our town house from where the cop stood. The cop never gave us a reason why we were stopped. From that point on he asked questions about me--he asked me -which country did I come from, what passport do I have and when I said Indian--he proceeded to question then how did you come here from New Zealand? I told him that I was working in New Zealand. I explained him briefly the K-1 visa process through which I came into this country. The cop went back to his vehicle came back and asked me a few more questions out of which 2 specific questions stood out. Questions enquiring what was my height and my weight. I must stress that he was never rude or discourteous in his conversation with us all through the conversation. After going back to his vehicle the cop came back again and asked me few more questions about what I was doing at this time of the night?

This really stumped me because I was with my wife in the vehicle and my wife already explained to him a few minutes back that she was just driving me around the neighborhood. After about 10 minutes we were free to go. Now to be honest I really did not make much about it until my wife told me there was no reason the cop should have asked me about my height and weight and a few more questions which she thought were redundant. I believe since I come from India and I saw how cops behave there-- this police encounter meant nothing to me but my wife believes that probably he was racially profiling me. My wife believes that the actions/questions of the cop were not based on my behavior or any actionable information but were based on my ethnicity, race and national origin. For a while my wife mulled the idea of making a complaint I told her it really was a non-issue.

What do you make of this incident?

It is possible that when he checked your name on the computer that a warrant appeared. Similar names, DOBs, similar descriptions, etc... can sometimes trigger a warrant hit. The officer will then ask more questions to determine whether or not you are the person with the warrant. It happens often when I check people. A warrant even appears when my name is checked, because someone with a totallity different name shares my DOB and similar height and weight.

[f&c 50]

Despite of what the law says, the police does not care if you have your passport or not, even if you are not a citizen. IDs only become an issue if you are doing something that should require an id, such as operating a motor vehicle. I don't believe anyone takes their passports to the beach, or a water park, or to the mall on a Sunday afternoon. It is really a non-issue.

Correct. I know I could care less if people carry their passports as long as they're not driving. In Georgia, you must carry a passport if you are operating a motor vehicle with a foriegn driver's license. I also do not care about immigration status, but sometimes an ICE hold appears when you check someone.