Doug,   You're right about laws penalizing employers for hiring illegals seldom being enforced.   And that's a huge source of the problem with illegal immigrants.

But Arizona's new law does a lot more than make it a crime for an illegal immigrant to live in Arizona. (I sure HOPE it doesn't make it a crime for LEGAL immigrants to live there!)
It seems to make it mandatory for everyone to have something like a passport or birth certificate or green card on their person AT ALL TIMES, even at times when one might normally neither need nor want to have a wallet, etc. with them.

The issue is not HAVING a state or national ID card, it's not being allowed to go anywhere without it.

We are not talking about having a driver license when you're driving or trying to buy something with a check or credit card.

There are times and places where there's no need to carry a purse or wallet and where having one with you involves great risk of loss or theft. E.g., when you go to the beach or a swimming pool or perhaps are working at a community garden or even going to a free outdoor public concert.


Q, if Canada makes everyone carry that Certificate of Canadian Citizenship at all times that's pretty oppressive. When I lived and worked in Canada, as a "landed immigrant," I did not have to carry such a card with me. Just my Ontario driver license - and I needed that only when driving or occasionally when asked for proof of age in a bar.   My Canadian "Social Insurance" (their equivalent to our Social Security) card did not have a photo or description either.

I don't want my credit cards stolen or lost either, but I'm not required to carry them with me anyway. It's also a lot easier to cancel a credit card and get a replacement issued than it is to replace a driver license or passport. And if someone gets hold of your birth certificate, how do you "cancel" and "replace" that?

Rig, I didn't say the Arizona law champions a national ID.   I'm saying it's an early step on a very short journey to getting to that point.


Art, if you're comfortable having all the info that's needed to steal your identity carried in your pocket at all times, that's fine, but I would not be. ESPECIALLY at times when I'd have to leave it unattended for a while, e.g., while swimming at the beach.