Tell Me About It
Think you're a citizen? Think again -- you soon could become an illegal immigrant! (Hat tip to Roderick Long.)
I have just one thing to add: The author of the first post may be right that the problem is of greatest concern for minorities, but it sure doesn't apply only to minorities. The circular nature of governmental requests for documents is maddening and hits everyone. My wife and I bought a house in Pennsylvania and wanted to move our driver's licenses here. Well, we needed a valid Pennsylvania mailing address -- but our house is not on a mail route. So, we'll get a PO Box! The Post Office asked for proof of residency. What would serve? Well, how about a PA driver's license!
A couple of years later, I still haven't been able to get a PA license. My last sojourn to the DMV appeared to be going well, until the clerk compared the date of birth on my old driver's license and my passport. "Yes, I said, US Customs and Immigration made a mistake and copied my birth date incorrectly. But it's a valid passport, a valid driver's license, and what in the world does this difference in my date of birth have to do with whether or not I'm eligible for a PA license?" (Both documents listed me as being over 16!) She called in the manager du jour who would not be budged, so where things stand now, I have to get my birth certificate, send a copy to Customs and Immigration, wait for a corrected passport, and go back to DMV.
I have just one thing to add: The author of the first post may be right that the problem is of greatest concern for minorities, but it sure doesn't apply only to minorities. The circular nature of governmental requests for documents is maddening and hits everyone. My wife and I bought a house in Pennsylvania and wanted to move our driver's licenses here. Well, we needed a valid Pennsylvania mailing address -- but our house is not on a mail route. So, we'll get a PO Box! The Post Office asked for proof of residency. What would serve? Well, how about a PA driver's license!
A couple of years later, I still haven't been able to get a PA license. My last sojourn to the DMV appeared to be going well, until the clerk compared the date of birth on my old driver's license and my passport. "Yes, I said, US Customs and Immigration made a mistake and copied my birth date incorrectly. But it's a valid passport, a valid driver's license, and what in the world does this difference in my date of birth have to do with whether or not I'm eligible for a PA license?" (Both documents listed me as being over 16!) She called in the manager du jour who would not be budged, so where things stand now, I have to get my birth certificate, send a copy to Customs and Immigration, wait for a corrected passport, and go back to DMV.
The writer has valid complaints, as you stated, about the comical (to an outsider) circular demands the state makes, but I can't find a whole lot of sympathy for a sob story about being unable to vote or collect federal benefits.
ReplyDeleteOf course, not having the correct documentation can also cause the opposite sort of problems, where the documents are needed in order to get the state to leave you alone (not deport you, not have you fired, not arrest you for not possessing a driver's license, etc.) but he doesn't make any mention of those sorts of issues.
Will these PA folks be running the cap and trade program for Co2?
ReplyDelete