On Feb 28, 10:20 am, george wrote:
> I'm not sure that the ports of entry are set up to check (by name let
> alone fingerprints) if people who enter the US have ever been arrested
> in the US (on non-federal charges at least). That would require that
> local police departments report to the feds all aliens they arrest.
> Local PDs make a point to not check the immigration status of the aliens
> they arrest (that'd be "racist", since they're virtually all Mexican
> illegals). But you being European, you may not enjoy the privileges
> granted to the wetbacks.
Wrong!! As I read this, I gave some thought to something I have laying
about the house... My ex's arrest report for his DUI (which he gave me
a copy of, and I never tossed it). It asks for his DL#, SSN and
Citizenship on the application. The DL and SSN appear on all reports
(local PD, booking sheet, etc.) Citizenship question exists on the
Jail Record where he was detained because he was held pending bond, he
wasn't released with a citation.
The police don't usually ask what country you're a citizen of when
they stop you, detain you, arrest you... they usually ask for ID. If a
person is not a US citizen, and they are visiting from abroad, their
ID will usually be an out of country ID like a passport or driver's
license (from Canada for instance). I guess it depends if you're
stopped for a moving violation or traffic related offence, they will
want to see a driver's license regardless. I was asked for ID once by
an officer in the US (parking enforcement of all people...) When he
saw it was a foreign passport, guess what he did? He made some radio
calls to find out if I had a record!! Not that it really mattered
since I didn't, and I hadn't been in the country more than three days
at that point. This was in California, in a town where illegals aren't
very welcome by the people who live there. So let's just say his
showing up where I was staying was not just dumb luck, some nosy
neighbour called because the person I was staying with was away for a
few days, and they didn't think he had any friends staying there. It
was smoothed over, but he told me because I was not a resident in the
area, let alone the country, that he was required by his department to
verify my status.
So don't go on about how they can't check and don't check... they can
and they do, they just can't check everyone, it takes a few minutes to
make a query in the computer. So when you're at the border and you're
told "wait here" or "pull in over here" and you find yourself not
being spoken to for a good ten or fifteen minutes, it's because
they're checking your record while you wait, just to see who they're
dealing with before they come back to ask more questions, search your
car, search your person, or whatever it is they're going to do.
S.
|