Did you know that if you are on a train that is not in the process of crossing any international border, and then US. border patrol gets on the train and asks "Are you a U.S. citizen?" you have every right NOT to respond? You can simply say "I decline to respond." The more people who decline the less effective this dubious method of "sweeping people up" will be. Read on to find out how this works:
"Are you a U.S. citizen?" agents asked one recent morning, moving through a Rochester-bound train full of dozing passengers at a station outside Buffalo. "What country were you born in?"
When the answer came back, "the U.S.," they moved on. But Ruth Fernandez, 60, a naturalized citizen born in Ecuador, was asked for identification. And though she was only traveling home to New York City from her sister’s in Ohio, she had made sure to carry her American passport. On earlier trips, she said, agents had photographed her, and taken away a nervous Hispanic man.
Border Sweeps in North Reach Miles Into U.S, New York Times
I wrote about this problem a few years back and, at last, the New York Times has picked up the story. I'm glad to see the abuse of the 100 mile border law at last getting some attention and I hope that we can educate people about their right not to answer such questions.
If you're like me, and have a passport and are a US citizen, you have very little to lose by not answering these questions. Your silence will help bring this tactic to a stop. I know there are a lot of Amtrak riders on DailyKos, so we should also be angry that it is mass transit that's being targeted: no word on if drivers are ever stopped and forced to answer such questions en-route from NYC to Cleveland (for example.) So, the dubious questions pretty much target the poor, minorities, the elderly and disabled as well as people who live in places where no one drives by default.
In addition I witnessed that the guy asking question singled out brown-skinned people. When I asked him why he was only asking some people and not others he made a big (angry) "point" of asking a lot of white people from then on. They know EXACTLY what they are doing. (This was three years ago but the article in the Times means it's still going on.)
For those of you who (for some reason still) wonder what the problem is it is four-fold:
- The 100 mile law was designed to intercept people who are crossing an international border, NOT to intercept people who have been living here for years and are simply moving within the country. Yes, we do need to address undocumented people who have been in the country for years, but this is the incorrect way to do it.
- The Border Patrol is taking advantage of the fact that they can stop a train to badger people with questions about their citizenship. They make it seem like you must answer the questions even though you don't have to. Since most people don't ride trains, not enough are effected to get this the attention it deserves.
- The opportunity for racial profiling makes this dubious just like AZ's new laws. Why must brown people carry passport all over the place like we are in some kind of police state? Why should I need to have a passport on my person when I'm not even leaving the country? Because I can't drive? Because I 'look suspicious?' This is not fair to people who are US citizens.
- Low-grade half-hearted and random enforcement of laws just keeps people in a state of terror. This isn't really about solving the immigration problem, it's about keeping people in the shadows, and keeping the wages of the people in the shadows nice and low.
If you have other ideas for taking action, put them in the comments!