Guys, I'm scared to live where I am.

[Jax Humanhater]

Here in Alabama, the State Legislature passed the strictest immigration bill that requires residents of Alabama to show proof of their citizenship when pulled over by the police. I am afraid I might go to jail because they might ask me for my passport or birth certificate. Seriously, the United States is becoming a ****ing hellhole to the point where you can say it is a fascist regime. I wonder if there is any way I could protest this law if only people in my state did not take governmental abuse for granted.

I feel like fretting right now.

http://www.npr.org/2011/09/29/140920757/alabama-immigration-law-ready-to-be-enforced

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Why not have your passport with you when you go out?

In The Netherlands we have this law as well (guess which country pushed it via a lobby) and you will have to be able to ID yourself the moment you leave home.

That law has been active for about five years I think and I have never had to show it ever since

 

[Hiroshi Awazu]

I think you and your family should pack it up, come move up to Canada. I know it's easier said than done but i really think you'll like it here. Perfect climate for a St Bernard . And you will have two friends right away!

 

[Jax Humanhater]

My mom talked to a police officer and the officer told her that we just need to show our driver's licence, which luckily, is an Alabama one.

 

[Jan Roman]

Well I think this is pretty common. Here in middle Europe you usually must show a passport/identity card when stopped by the police. Identity card/passport , drivers licence and car's technical reports. Nothing unusual here I'm not sure, but I think I'd have to show it when asked to by a policemen, no matter what the circumstances would be.

 

[Ross Balfour]

I live in Northern Ireland, I think despite the relative "peace" in the past 10 years - bomb scares, riots etc. are still pretty normal hearing/viewing for me.

 

[Craig Stevenson]

In the UK we don't HAVE to carry any proof of ID, if you're stopped for a motoring or other minor offence they will ask for your D.O.B. etc and then cross reference that with the Police National Computer (PNC) and\or scan your finger prints with a device called a Lantern Mobile Fingerprinting Device. If required they will give you a "Producer Document" which means you generally have 7-14 days to take your Driving License etc to the Police Station. If they can't prove your identity then you will end up in the nick until they can prove your ID.

I quite like the idea of ID cards but I don't like the way the data will be stored or used, for example the DVLA and Insurance Companies sell customer information to third parties and we have no control what so ever over the information that we HAVE to provide by law. Members of the Government and Civil Servants have a shocking history of leaving DVD's or Laptops full of Confidential information about us on trains or in the back of a taxi.

Everyone knows the USSR and China are (or were) very closed and watched societies but those countries don't really hide the fact they spy on their own Citizens, the "Free world Democracies" on the other hand, USA, UK etc do it more covertly, I really don't think we know just how much information is collected and stored about us by these "Democracies", the USA in particular. This "spying" has increased enormously in the last decade under the guise of Anti-Terrorism.

 

[Steve Sachse]

The US is not anything as bad as you are making it out to be, but states like Alabama and Mississippi need to join the evolution process for sure. I don't doubt it's bad where you live.