Show me your papers

[ivo]

Today I was reading through the Rude Pundit's blogentry on a new law in Arizona that deals with whether immigrants can be asked to show that they're legal:

"No official or agency of this state or a county, city, town or other political subdivision of this state may adopt a policy that limits or restricts the enforcement of federal immigration laws

Comments

[goulo]

Laws that require you to have something at all times have always seemed a little odd to me. E.g. what if you are swimming down a river or something? What if your wallet got stolen or you simply lost your ID? Does the law explicitly allow such exceptions, or do you just have to depend on the kindness and common sense of police and judges?

And yeah, the case of a citizen who's not required to carry such papers seems very odd as you point out. If the police think you're not a citizen but you are, and you have no ID, can they arrest you? I would sure hope not, but in today's paranoid climate of "better safe than sorry, punish anyone who might be a terrorist", who knows...