Arizona H-1B Workers Advised to Carry Papers At All Times 884
dcblogs writes "In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Monday on Arizona's immigration enforcement law, H-1B workers are being advised to keep their papers on them. About half of all H-1B visa holders are employed in tech occupations. The court struck down several parts of Arizona's law but nonetheless left in place a core provision allowing police officers to check the immigration status of people in the state at specific times. How complicated this gets may depend on the training of the police officer, his or her knowledge of work visas, and whether an H-1B worker in the state has an Arizona's driver's license. An Arizona state driver's license provides the presumption of legal residency. Nonetheless, H-1B workers could become entangled in this law and suffer delays and even detention while local police, especially those officers and departments unfamiliar with immigration documentation."
An alternate approach (Score:5, Interesting)
As someone who doesn't have US citizenship but who lives and works in the US, creating businesses that have hired hundreds of people (including plenty of H1-B holders) I have an alternate approach; I shall simply be avoiding Arizona as much as possible. I shall not be holding any group meetings there, I'll see what I can do to avoid conventions there or transfers through PHX and they can kiss goodbye to any prospect of my opening offices there. I'm probably too white to actually be harassed under this law but that doesn't make it any less disgusting to me.
Re:When will we realize... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Okay, but... (Score:2, Interesting)
maybe it because there aren't as many welfare sucking illegal Canadian immigrants because they already have free health.
I'm from Russia, and I was stopped at Arizona (Score:5, Interesting)
I didn't have my passport with me so a police officer offered to drive me to my hotel to fetch it or to drive me to the police station to check my identity there. I'd chosen to be driven to my hotel, I have a valid B1/B2 visa so it was not a problem for me.
Re:Isn't it the law already? (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't really see what all this whining is about. My dad did not become a US citizen until after I graduated from high school and he had a resident alien card in his wallet next to his driver's license. His citizenship was delayed for a long time due to processing backlog. In that interim period though it didn't seem to be a big deal. Why is this hard?
Re:Papers? Don't Need No Stinkin' Papers! (Score:4, Interesting)
You need to be careful with being quiet too. At least in my state (Texas), refusing to provide your name, date of birth, and home address if you've been arrested and the officer has asked it of you is considered an additional offense. Several other states criminalize refusing to provide your name [wikipedia.org] even before you're arrested.
Re:this is new how? (Score:5, Interesting)
If you are a tourist you are screwed. The US government itself recommends you leave your passport in the hotel safe rather than risk losing it and the problem and time required to obtain a replacement. The obvious problem is as a foreign tourist in Arizona if you get robbed and your passport is stolen, should you attempt to report it you will immediately be arrested placed in privatised for profit prison for lack of identification, forcing you to leave the state prior to reporting the crime or simply avoiding the state along with the rest of the US just to be safe.
Re:I'm from Russia, and I was stopped at Arizona (Score:4, Interesting)
Anyway, I didn't get a ticket for it, only a verbal warning no to do it again.
Re:License and registration please? (Score:5, Interesting)
I lived in Russia for years, got asked for my papers all the time. It didn't bother me. Just about any other country requires foreigners to carry their papers 100% of the time, regardless of color. If I became a citizen of Russia, I'd still be asked for papers just because I look and sound American. There's no way to get around that and still allow Russia to have orderly immigration.
If you were born in Russia to Russian parents, raised there, and lived there for all your life, you'd still be asked for papers. Russian law requires all citizens to have passports from the age of 14, and provide them on demand to law enforcement officials. This is largely inherited from the USSR.
As a Russian, I don't like it at all and think it's a very bad system.
There's no way to get around that and still allow Russia to have orderly immigration.
Now this really made me laugh. By all accounts, Moscow alone has several million illegal immigrants, mostly from Central Asia. And you know what "papers please" is used for in practice? Not to kick them out, no. It's used by cops to coerce bribes from them. Why would they arrest people who don't have any legal status, and are required to prove it every time they're seen on the streets, if they can be milked again and again and again?
Re:Look, we've been over this (Score:2, Interesting)
Have you ever looked at our immigration rules? They're silly, selective, brutal, painful, time consuming - often taking a half dozen years - and there are only a tiny number of permits available.
The solution is to allow people who want to live in America to come to America. Why are we worried about allowing more people in? We have tons of unsold homes. There are a half dozen for sale in my block alone. I vote we let anyone who can buy a house get a green card right away and become a citizen after three years of good behavior owning that home.
The reason people keep investing in China is because that's where all the people are. Know what? There are tons of people who would rather be in America. Why not let them come to America and we'll take their investment instead?
Are you worried about paying welfare checks to immigrants? If that's the only thing stopping you, why not require immigrants to live in America for a decade before they can receive social services?
The trouble is, that's not the real reason some people dislike "illegal immigration". They dislike it because it brings more "foreign" people into America. They only want more people exactly like them. I apologise in advance if you're different.
Re:License and registration please? (Score:5, Interesting)
1. A VALID ARIZONA DRIVER LICENSE.
etc blah blah.
Where in the constitution does it say that US citizens have to register with Arizon in order not to be illegally hassled by racists on the way through? What if you're oh, I don't know, New Mexican and Hispanic (like the majority in NM)? It's not like the states are next door to one another or anything.
4. IF THE ENTITY REQUIRES PROOF OF LEGAL PRESENCE IN THE UNITED
Look, no proof of legal residence in the US required:
http://www.mvd.newmexico.gov/Drivers/Licensing/Pages/Proof-of-New-Mexico-Residency.aspx [newmexico.gov]
You can be entirelly legally driving in AZ without any kind of proof of valid residency, and it's not even especially likely to be the case.
flailing her little Kermit arms
Classic invective, as expected from one who lacks a logical argument.