YSK a US passport card costs $30 and is definitive proof of citizenship. It fits in your wallet like a credit card.
5mon 2d ago by lemmy.world/u/NateNate60 in youshouldknow
For fellow Americans living in cities where ICE is active, many people, especially those of Hispanic descent, are already carrying around passports on their persons at all times because they're rightfully afraid of being forcibly disappeared or deported to some random South American country.
A passport card can be obtained for $30 from the Department of State. It is considered exactly equivalent to a passport within the US, but it's the size of a credit card. It is a valid travel document for land and sea travel within North America and the Caribbean. It also counts as a Real ID. The card is good for ten years.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/card.html
Do not do this if you are transgender or have an X gender marker. They will cancel your passport and tell you to apply for a new one with your sex assigned at birth.
YSK a card in your wallet won't help you much when an ICE agent points a gun at your head and tells you your passport looks fake, without even looking at it.
If this form factor for ID isn't well known enough for them to know about it, I doubt they received training on its existence.
Which means having this card will make them assume it's fake by default. "That's not what a US passport looks like!" Thereby increasing their deluded suspicions, rather than reducing them.
I doubt they received training
on its existence.
The problem is not lack of training. This isn’t a “whoopsie-poopsie”. They’re doing it on purpose and if someone looks brown enough they get kidnapped. With luck they get released later.
They already did this to people with Real ID drivers licenses, which have the same requirements to acquire as a passport.
The main advantage is that it's a redundant form of citizenship ID. ICE can always say it is fake and confiscate it, but then you have your passport book waiting at home for your lawyer to take to the detention center to get you out (once they find out where they took you).
Most Americans don't own a passport in the first place.
Anyone who fails the "Peter Griffin in a Fez" test needs to get one. And double up on the card and book.
Because it doesn't matter where you were born, or what the facts are. ICE is targeting people who they believe don't belong here, based on how they look and sound. Having the card on your person is no guarantee, but maybe it will work if they are in a good mood.
It's sad that this is what it has come to in America, of all places, but here we are.
Why would they let your lawyer find out where they took you?
Yeah, but you're at least a little more likely to survive.
Apparently they don't even bother with that now, they'll go after anyone
Are you actively encouraging people to not seek protections against a fascist regime just because it wouldn't be 100% effective?
Maybe armbands with star of david would help like it did during Nazi regime?
Ah, so you are trying to get people killed.
Yes, because we all know citizens don't get shot in the face while driving and just existing. Identification would really help. We're way past the compliance stage.
Still doing the or nothing argument. ICE has actively deported us citizens. These people might have had a better chance of arguing at the moment if they'd had this identification. Are you also arguing against vaccines because they don't make you bulletproof?
Bigger argument is not having due process. Even if you have identification, they can still throw you in jail or deport you. Only thing that might help is having a close community and being armed.
Of course they still can, they can also dome you the moment they see you. But there is a higher chance of surviving if you have identification. Why would you actively argue against doing something that can, at worst, do nothing and, at best, help you? And no, that is not the only thing that might help.
Because it's giving in to fascism. It's going along with it and accepting that in the U.S. you have to carry 'papers'. It shouldn't be about looking after your own personal best interests, it should be about fighting back to reclaim the country from fascism.
Look, I don't like in the us, but if you feel safe enough that you can make the call to not protect yourself, be my guest. But there are many in theus that isn't as safe as you.
"Just give into the fascists bro, don't stand up for your rights. Just comply bro."
Have the trump admin demanded that people get ids? How is thos "giving in"?
Nah, that was the fascists prior to trump.
How in the world did you draw that conclusion? I'm merely pointing out that they're discriminating on skin color alone, but that wasn't an advocacy against a passport card.
Lmao it's been shown multiple times that even with a passport shown to ICE they'll just call it fake if they want to abduct you.
Yup I was going to comment the same. The physical passport might be useful after the fact once you're in ICE holding being processed after x amount of hours/days. But then again at that point they would look you up in their systems so having the physical passport in your wallet may end up being a waste of time anyway.
The fact is if the ICE goon squad you encounter feels like arresting and detaining US citizens they're going to do it.
And that's assuming the ICE goons don't make up charges of assaulting them or similar, in which case I'm not sure if those US citizens being charged get released with a future court date or are detained indefinitely.
It would've been amazing if most of the US had come together, did a general strike, or another massive daily protest like BLM to tell this regime to fuck the fuck off. But instead we step piecemeal closer and closer to something worse. If we didn't resist on Step C, then on to Step D they go.
This is actually not super common. I was personally stopped by them and I was let go after showing my passport card. Ideally, ICE should not be arresting any citizens, but it happens anyway because they'll hire anyone who can breathe and do a decent seig heil. Nonetheless, a thing that works 80% of the time is still worth having.
Edit: I have managed to create a statistic for this. There are 22,000 agents which work for ICE, although this number was 12,000 prior to Trump's hiring surge (source). ICE claims they made 26,600 arrests in 2025 (source). This means each agent makes about 2 arrests per year on average at most. So unless you believe that most agents are checking only three or four people a year, this would indicate most people are being let go.
It is happening all day, every day. Your one experience is your one experience. You are denying the experiences of, right now, countless others. Every response you have is, “but when it happened to me.” Cool. It might be different for Americans with Somali heritage in MN right now than it was for Americans with Asian heritage weeks ago in Portland. You are telling a whole group of people to deny their eyes, ears, and rational thought because you had an encounter with one agent on one day.
I appreciate the sentiment of your post, people need to protect themselves and the people around them however they can. But stop this nonsense about how it’s “80%” going to get you out of being beaten and taken to the Whipple building. That’s a number you absolutely made up and keep repeating like it has any validity whatsoever.
Look, I came into this expecting people to understand that most (arbitrary percentage greater than 50 but less than 100) interactions with anyone, ICE or not, are reasonable. You don't hear about these, because they're not interesting enough to get posted on the Internet. If your information comes from the Internet only, you will think everything is extreme. I don't like to use the term "terminally online", but it's a problem common with people typically described as being "terminally online"—not realising that real life is a lot more boring than it would appear from clips that people share of ridiculous interactions.
It's always difficult to deal with these types of comments because despite it being obvious that they show an extremity bias because the person who made them has a viewpoint influence by an extremely cherry-picked data set, they technically are logically sound.
Edit: I have managed to create a statistic for this. There are 22,000 agents which work for ICE, although this number was 12,000 prior to Trump's hiring surge (source). ICE claims they made 26,600 arrests in 2025 (source). This means each agent makes about 2 arrests per year on average at most. So unless you believe that most agents are checking only three or four people a year, this would indicate most people are being let go.
You should know that you are not required to identify yourself to the gestapo. This post is in un-American.
The way to combat these idiots is everyone refusing to show identification .
Thank you. Papers, Please isn't the ending we need to run to. They can't treat us like criminals cause they feel like it
I thought that you did within 100m of an airport
Metes not miles
While I agree with the sentiment behind your post, this is like waving a copy of the Weimar constitution to the Gestapo.
i dont get what anyone's so worried about, as a straight white man cops don't seem to give me any trouble when i present my papers
Still seems like a hassle to have to pull that out. They should design something that's more outwardly noticeable like a piece of clothing or maybe just a simple armband they can wear over their clothes that signifies they're jewis-I mean legal or whatever.
Or just a stamp saying 'this person is unwanted but haven't found a reason to get rid of them yet' so you can show to the next ice 'agent' you've already been harassed earlier.
Or maybe a tattoo on their forehead!
Apple has been trying to get states/governments to let them add their ID to Apple Wallet for years now. Only a handful of states have complied. I'm not sure if you can add a passport.
The most common misconception is that a cop will take your phone and have access to all your personal information plus they're in your phone. That's not how it's intended to work (but absolutely can regardless of whether your state supports digital ID). The intended use is much like paying for goods, they hold up a reader, you open Wallet and select your ID, tap your phone to their reader, and they can see all the relevant information. And it's encrypted and all that.
Of course, I'm talking about cops following procedure, not thugs working directly for Trump.
I would advise never using your phone. That just cant end well.
Your phone should never be involved in your interactions with cops. In fact you should literally shut it down to get it in its totally encrypted and hard locked state
I agree. I just mean, in theory, that's the way it's supposed to work.
If I had state ID on my phone and a cop asked for it with the reader, sure, I'll do it. He wants the phone, I'm squeezing the side button five times to lock it so Face ID is disabled. That also prevents data access via the USB port until it's unlocked. And oops, I forgot the passcode. Can't prove I know it, I just use Face ID.
Ur better off just shutting it down. As long as it is still is AFU (after first unlock) theres all kinds of fuckery they can work with. It has to be ahard shutdown or reset
My goodness. I can't believe we are living in this era of fascism.
Good luck United States folk.
“YSK you should comply with authoritarian governments”
Yall are so fucking cooked.
Watch the comments advocating for resisting the fascist takeover and see the excuses and downvotes pour in.
So cooked.
"You Americans all are cowards for not doing anything against the fascists besides protesting!"
"okay what do you suggest?"
"I'm not gonna say! But you 2nd amendment people should definitely think of something"
"dude I'm not going to travel 1000 miles and shoot the most protected person on the planet"
"woah where did I say that? Americans are so violent and uncreative! you have to do something along the lines of the French revolution though"
This same conversation repeated over and over with the same bad faith assholes every day. It gets so very tiring to read.
Fucking stewed.
YSK if ICE thinks you're too brown, they'll just say yours is fake and deport you anyway. It's already happened to US citizens.
Deadset. Which moron actually thinks mexican-looking peoples with actual passports are being approached on the streets and let go??
Source on this please!
Papers please
Or wear a star on your jacket for everyone to see.
"Ihre Papiere, bitte."
If you have to prove you have rights then no one has rights.
Ysk papers please within boarders is a regime in turmoil.
A REAL ID is also valid proof of citizenship. ICE clearly does not care.
You're incorrect on that https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/2026/01/05/real-id-travel-immigration-status/88032182007/
All this tells you is that ICE indeed does not care.
REAL IDs are not proof of citizenship. They're proof that you had legal status at the time of their issue.
You're trolling right? No one should need to unlawfully identify themselves at the bequest of nazis.
What should be is not the same as what is.
What IS is that they don't care about little pieces of paper in your wallet.
I got checked by ICE in Portland and they let me go when I gave them my passport card. Of course, it really does depend on whether you got an agent with an IQ of 90 or an IQ of 70. But it doesn't hurt to have one.
Don't comply
This is a difficult thing to respond to. I (Asian, US citizen) have actually been stopped by ICE because I live in Portland, Oregon. I gave them my passport card and they said, "okay, you can go". I then cussed them out, saying "You blind motherfuckers, you aren't even good at being racist; do I look Mexican to you?"
They told me to fuck off. And I did, after giving them the middle finger and calling them "fucking Blackshirts". But this interaction accomplished what I wanted it to: it (1) caused aggravation, (2) shows them that they aren't welcome and (3) that their presence is not appreciated. In hindsight, I should have stayed and argued to waste their time.
If I had just refused to do anything the whole time, the most likely outcome was that I would have been taken to the ICE facility in downtown Portland and accosted for a few hours, accomplishing nothing.
“You blind motherfuckers, you aren’t even good at being racist; do I look Mexican to you?”
Right... because it was only a problem because you're Asian... the stop would have been fine if you were actually Mexican... gee thanks.
You must understand, that the goal of saying that was to cause aggravation. Had I been Mexican I would have chosen a different insult.
Well, if there are going to be consequences, I guess you have no choice but to comply.
Grandad is rolling over in his grave right now.
Should is a funny word
Would be a useful tip in a world where ICE follows the law.
Definitive proof of citizenship won't stop ICE from beating or killing you if you have an accent or non-white skin.
what if i don't have an accent or non-white skin? they won't beat me, right?
They might still just execute you in the street if they think you're talking back to them shrug
Usually
The admin is targeting white people. You might have heard of that white woman executed on false pretense recently, celebrated by leadership.
Framing as you do is both incorrect and prevents support to fix problems.
They're targeting anybody who challenges their authority, starting with people who look different (foreigners first)
I am not going to lie and say it's 100% effective. But it most certainly will quickly get you out of ICE's attention 80% of the time when you are not wanting a confrontation at that time.
Edit: I have managed to create a statistic for this. There are 22,000 agents which work for ICE, although this number was 12,000 prior to Trump's hiring surge (source). ICE claims they made 26,600 arrests in 2025 (source). This means each agent makes about 2 arrests per year on average at most. So unless you believe that most agents are checking only three or four people a year, this would indicate most people are being let go.
From what I'm seeing, ICE doesn't give a flying fuck if you have a valid ID or not, they're still going to collar you. Their policy is literally to fuck around first and find out later.
That's from the videos that get widely shared.
95% of interactions are gonna be them being dicks but backing off when they realize you're there legally. The other 5% are gonna be the ones you see.
Where do these numbers come from? Internet magic?
Look here mate, you and I both know there's probably no empirical evidence whatsoever about this. It's a heuristic based on observations of how law enforcement works and what people choose to post on the Internet. This is like how people post a picture of a deformed boxed pie they bought at the grocery store to complain about it and then you assume that all pies are deformed. No, people only post the bad ones online to complain about it, but if I were to assert that "at least 80% of pies are fine and not deformed" and you choose to reply with "Where do these numbers come from? internet magic?", I think you can see the inherent ridiculousness of that reasoning.
I really hate that on the Internet you really have to explain to people that the things they see posted there are almost always the exceptions rather than the rule.
Edit: I have managed to create a statistic for this. There are 22,000 agents which work for ICE, although this number was 12,000 prior to Trump's hiring surge (source). ICE claims they made 26,600 arrests in 2025 (source). This means each agent makes about 2-3 arrests per year on average at most. So unless you believe that most agents are checking only three or four people a year, this would indicate most people are being let go.
There is empirical evidence, tho. We have numbers for how many people ICE has detained, and how many of those have been legal citizens. And it's a fucking lot.
Yep, I found the evidence. It supports my point of view. I'll paste it below.
I have managed to create a statistic for this. There are 22,000 agents which work for ICE, although this number was 12,000 prior to Trump's hiring surge (source). ICE claims they made 26,600 arrests in 2025 (source). This means each agent makes about 2 arrests per year on average at most. So unless you believe that most agents are checking only three or four people a year, this would indicate most people are being let go.
There are many ways to be there legally without being a citizen.
Yeah, and if you have a green card or passport with a visa it's "probably" fine, unless they're having a bad day or whatever.
I'm not sure about a passport from a visa waiver country though, because no shot ICE agents know that Lithuanians and Singaporeans can be in the US without a visa.
I’d love to know where 80% comes from. Because I’m in Minnesota and can see what’s happening on our streets. Where are you getting your info from? You sound soooooo sure of yourself and what you are saying contradicts evidence.
It's a guess without any empirical evidence whatsoever. However, the only reason why you believe it "contradicts evidence" is because nobody ever talks about ICE encounters that go down peacefully. People only ever talk about and post about ICE encounters that are outrageous. So all the encounters you have ever heard of will be ones where someone gets wrongfully arrested/beaten up by agents/etc.
When I saw them, they were checking everyone and arrested 0 people in the time I observed them.
I should not have to explain to you that what you see on the Internet has a heavy selection bias towards the extreme and that for every one video of something stupid happening there's hundreds more unfilmed of ordinary interactions which aren't interesting enough to get posted at all.
Edit: I have managed to create a statistic for this. There are 22,000 agents which work for ICE, although this number was 12,000 prior to Trump's hiring surge (source). ICE claims they made 26,600 arrests in 2025 (source). This means each agent makes about 2 arrests per year on average at most. So unless you believe that most agents are checking only three or four people a year, this would indicate most people are being let go.
You think ICE cares? You think ICE even understands that?
I have been stopped by ICE and was let go after showing my passport card.
It's not a guarantee, but it doesn't hurt.
Work will set you free.
It won't stop them. Immigration and customs already had a large amount of unchecked power prior to this administration, but under this administration there isn't anything they care about. They've been murdering people in cold blood across multiple blue states for a while now.
Besides that, if people start panicking and trying this then the necessary venues that people have to go to for their first passport(you have to show up in person for your first passport) could become ICE targets or places they stalk. It's not exactly uncommon knowledge that conservatives tend to not bother getting passports either.
Colored man reaching for something in his jacket or pants?
YSK he's about to get shot.
YSK: you want to take up as much time as possible (depending on your needs) when talking to ICE. One minute talking to you is one minute they're not teargassing an infant.
Like that white lady who put a Mexican flag decal on her rear window just so she could be a decoy to waste their time pulling her over instead of those with darker complextions
“This isn’t real” -ICEcuck
They've already proven (okay stories but since it's been a few and they have no leeway to think they're better) that proper ID doesn't exempt you. Hell I bet even if their unknown app says you're good they'll still bring you in if they want to.
Fuck fascist governments and fuck ICE. They're a blight on humanity. Sure we can be that bad but everyone else is supposed to reign them in.
UN/NATO needs a fascism rule, countries that display enough fascist traits are treated as such, even if they have the biggest penis...I mean military.
their unknown app
This part deeply worries me, as a trans person. Does their little fascist app know about my previous name? My gender change? I cannot imagine the horrific treatment trans people are getting if it does.
Alternate title:
Give the government $30 to stop violating your civil liberties
Give the government $30 to maybe stop violating your civil liberties
Lol, my mom had to pay like somewhere between ¥10,000 to ¥30,000 (Reminbi) in "fines" just so the PRC governenment even legally recognize my existence, because one child policy violation.
Apparently ICE doesn't have to look at it.
Ah, just like Trump wanted.
I'm 100% not showing my papers.
I have papers, they're holstered and chambered. there's about 17 pages of papers too.
Yeah fuck this.
Having a passport card will definitely make it easier for the deportation official to release you after assault you, put you in handcuffs and take you to the station for speaking Spanish in a Mexican restaurant.
This would be more effective if everyone just affixed a symbol to their sleeve.
Maybe that symbol can be easily recognizable like a star or something. We can even make it bright yellow or gold so it's visible from a distance.
I will absolutely refuse any unlawful order to see my “papers”.
Reach for your wallet and get blasted.
Many others have pointed out multiple probably even more important issues with this. I'd just like to add that it's actually $30 to the state department and another $30 to the processing department (like the post office if you take it there) and another processing fee for the photograph.
Mine was closer to $100 and cannot be used for international air travel.
So unless you're planning a cruise or a land crossing, this is a $100 fee to try to avoid getting arrested.
You can take your own photograph or re-use a previous one. It's free to apply through the post office. Just $30 for the fee to issue one. That's all I paid for mine.
Edit: This is assuming you have a passport book already. If you don't, then yes, there's a $35 acceptance fee.
What a time to be alive.
YSK you can suck me twice
They can still just detain you because they can steal it or say there’s no way to verify your passport or ID isn’t fraudulent without further investigation so how about you spend a few days or weeks in jail while we sort it out 😉
But yes it is still a good idea and won’t hurt
I regret cheaping out and not getting one when I got my passport given that I'm ineligible for a passport now
Also per your last paragraph, trans people are unlikely to actually have it go through even if we misgender ourselves.
Wait how'd you become ineligible after already having one?
"Is this meant to be your shield, my lord? A things that fits in your wallet like a credit card?"
Everyone should get a passport. You never know if you ever need to travel in an emergency. In addition if Republicans do impose stricter voter ID laws you'll be ready for it.
But I would very strongly recommend getting the larger passport in addition to the card because the card doesn't let you do as much as the passport book.
Do not do this if you are transgender or have an X gender marker.
Warnins should probably be bigger and up front, but that's just me
ICE is not harassing my area, or even my state that I know of, so there's a possibility I turn out to be a coward but no.
I'm not required to show documentation even to the actual cops in my state (just to identify myself, which i can do verbally), ICE has no legal power over me and I'm not going to pretend they do. If they shoot me, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ it's not the worst cause to die for.
(I'm also white, just for context)
I THOUGHT THIS WAS AMERICA - Randy Marsh
It is a valid travel document for land and sea travel within North America and the Caribbean.
The way you've phrased it sounds quite dystopian.
Why? That's like saying an EU national ID card is a valid travel document within the Schengen area.
Having a need for a "valid travel document" to cover for your perceived ethnicity stinks of "papers, please" and I am alarmed that you cannot see that connection.
Uh, do you know what a "travel document" is? They've been required for international travel since the end of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War. The "travel document" part of it has nothing to do with ethnicity.
You're confusing two statements:
- A passport card is a travel document. Nothing wrong with this.
- A passport card can help you get out of situations with ICE if you appear Hispanic. This one is the one which is fucked up.
Jesus
Holy shit that's so fucking cheap I paid like 200 aud for my Australian passport
That's because it's a passport card. Cards are only useful for crossing into Canada or Mexico, or for some carribian islands.
More importantly, it's not valid to use for entry via airplane anywhere, even if it's one of the above. So basically most useful for people that commute between regularly or are going on cruises. Or in this case as proof of citizenship.
Full passports are $130 USD. I renewed both in November.
Ahh righto, I assume you need a full passport for a card?
You can apply for a card without getting the book, or you can also apply for the book without getting the card. There's a combo deal where you can get both for slightly cheaper than if you get them individually.
If you already have a card, applying for a book counts as a "renewal" rather than a new application.
Not at all. And it's a little cheaper than my state ID (which is not a driver's license, just an ID) and lasts considerably longer (10 years like a normal passport instead of 2 for the state ID).
Its great value, if you don't already need a license and don't plan on doing any air travel.
Oh nice
When was that? My partner paid something like $400 or more last year.
Honestly you might be right on it being $400. I remember it being way more than what I thought would be reasonable and in the hundreds; not the specific number. I filled mine online in VIC with the passport authority late last year. Picked it up and did all the in person paperwork at my local post office. Bloody rip off aye!
Just FYI - outside of the US bubble - an identity card is standard in most countries.
The most common identity document in the US is the state identification card ("State ID"), which also doubles as a driving license for those licensed to drive. Pretty much everyone has a State ID. While a State ID card is valid proof of identity, it isn't proof of citizenship because the Department of Motor Vehicles will issue one to anyone, even those without legal immigration status. They did not previously ask about immigration status when you are applying for one (that changed fairly recently to comply with the "Real ID" standards for the newest generation of cards), and old cards are typically good for 10 years.
The passport card is uncommon because the State ID is sufficient for most purposes, didn't (used to) require burdensome proof of citizenship to apply for, and could be easily obtained from any DMV office. And if you have a car, which is most Americans, you need a driving license which is a State ID anyway.
Well I didn't know about that before, so thank you for the information :)
Your system sounds a bit complex when compared to the German one. For comparison here in Germany we basically have 3 important documents:
- The ID card that you get as a citizen. You can use it inside the country for basically all govermental buisness or to travel freely in the EU/Schengen area.
- The more powerful (and expensive) passport that you usually only needed when travelling abroad
- Drivers license - that you can also get when you're not a citizen
So if you're an immigrant/not a citizen you basically can't have an ID card or passport and get a temporary residence card instead.
Your system does sound more straightforward.
Unfortunately various groups have historically opposed changes to make it simplier in the us ( some for dumb reasons some for valid reasons).
The main issue is almost all our documents are effectively voluntary...
Birth certificate is the one you're most likely to have, managed by the state (people who don't give birth in hospitals sometimes skip this, which makes everything harder in life)
The parents should also file for a federal social security card using the birth certificate, but again some people skip this and it makes their kids lives hard.
Most people who can drive will get a state issued drivers license at 16, the most recent standard has a label to identify if you are a citizen or not (proven by showing your birth certificate or social security card when getting the id)
All male citizens are required to register with the government at 18 for the draft, but I don't recall getting any id from it - but mentioning it as the only time I think citizens are required to do something for the feds because they are citizens, the other mandatory federal item is paying taxes, but residents also pay taxes.
If you want to vote you register with the city / county, prove citizenship to them, and get issued a voter id, and about half the country doesn't do this.
I don't know the exact percent, but most Americans don't have a passport. Traveling between States is cheaper than internationally, and within a half day or day long flight you can reach whatever vacation activity you'd want.
There are a bunch of less common id cards granted by state governments, such as weapon carry ids, hunting permits, a dedicated state id card, etc. But these aren't standardized and not every state accepts other state ids fully (in particular the weapon permits are often not accepted). And a common issue comes up when voting laws require id because the politicians often will choose ids that their voters already have and hope enough opposition doesn't get that form by the election to make the election easier (North Carolina Republican party lost a lawsuit recently because there were emails where they specifically asked which ids their voters were more likely to have then tried to make only those the accepted ids).
In practice the federal government uses the social security number as a federal id, but it's a terrible bad idea that has caused many issues and we passed a law requiring government agencies stop doing it
I wish it was simplier, but most people don't care and any discussion of changing it has people panic that their id won't be valid for an upgrade, fearing they would have to spend a frustrating amount of time and money finding or replacing their original birth certificate in order to get a federal id or deal with a slow process (I've known people who had to wait in line multiple work days to get state ids issued, although that was rare, I only stood in line 2 hours).
Probably more information than you wanted, but it's complex and I just kept going lol
Yeah you know the system's fucked when even a German is calling it complicated.
It's easy to explain when I phrase it like this:
- The passport card has the same function as the German national ID card, proving both nationality and identity. It can be used for land travel within North America just like how as a German you can drive to the Netherlands or Poland with only your national ID card and no passport.
- Driving licenses in the US also function as identity documents, but not proof of nationality. It is possible to obtain a non-driving license version that serves only as identification if you don't drive.
- The passport book is the same across both countries. It is used for travelling abroad and it proves both nationality and identity.
Edit: In America, all three documents are technically optional. While you could choose to never apply for a State ID or passport book/card, or never renew your documents when they expire, and it wouldn't technically be illegal, you would find it difficult to go through your daily life because you wouldn't be able to do anything like get a job, open a bank account, buy train/plane tickets, get insurance, or register/drive a car without some form of ID.
Do not do this if you are transgender or have an X gender marker. They will cancel your passport and tell you to apply for a new one with your sex assigned at birth.
Uh . . . how? I'm a trans man, but my passport says male. I changed it years ago. I have an active passport. Is there anything in this process that would get me flagged as a trans person?
They have a database of trans people. If you were ever issued a passport with an F gender marker, they would know you changed it.
If you try to renew, you'll get the passport back with two holes punched in it with a letter telling you to apply again with an F gender marker.
Edit: Some transgender people have been issued the passport anyway with the gender they were assigned at birth. This causes problems because your appearance would not match the gender stated on the passport and thus would subject you to additional scrutiny at checkpoints. That's not even mentioning the countries where being transgender is just illegal, although I don't imagine you have many plans to visit those places.
Fuckin' gross.
So for every person who submits for a renewal or new passport, they are crosschecking records to try to catch "the trannies".
Yeah, this is unfortunately why, immediately after the election, there was a surge of posts on Lemmy and elsewhere telling transgender people to rush a passport application or renewal while Biden was still in office. Basically within weeks of Trump assuming power, dealing with the federal government has been Hell on earth for transgender people.
It has indeed. I live in one of the most hostile states in the country. Working like hell to get the fuck out.
Do not do this if you are transgender or have an X gender marker. They will cancel your passport and tell you to apply for a new one with your sex assigned at birth.
Set aside for a moment that ICE has a habit of thinking IDs are fake, I really wonder if this is a point where it might be worth prioritizing. If it's increasing the likelihood of being deported, kidnapped, tortured, or similar, than I think there's a legitimate question of whether dealing with the gender dysphoria is worse than that. I'm not saying it necessarily isn't, that may be different from person to person, but it's definitely something that should be considered carefully.
Of course, the safest option is probably trying to get the hell out of the US, but I'm not going to get into that can of worms.
For most people it’s not about gender dysphoria. It’s about discrimination. If you appear to be male but your id shows female, you have been immediately identified as being trans which is a very dangerous thing in America right now
I fully realize that. My point is that a blanket "everyone should do X" is the wrong approach here, since everyone's situation is different, and the overall situation has severely changed (and continues to change).
Though I get what you're saying, someone who had their sex changed on their passport has already decided dealing with the gender dysphoria has priority. It's not like it's a quick decision (contrary to popular republican belief), and it's never been easy to be trans in the society so every trans person will consider if coming out as trans is worth it. A lot of those who do feel it's either that or death.
I'm already assuming that if someone has had that changed, in all likelihood they spent a long time thinking about it. My point is the basis of that decision has changed, things have gotten much more dangerous for trans people, which can change the equation. There will be plenty of people for whom the gender dysphoria has a higher priority, and that's not a problem. My point is that a blanket statement isn't quite the best idea here, everyone has to weigh the risks for themselves, and that will be different for every person.
Finally, a YSK which is actually a YSK.
Good tip That’s actually really useful to know. Super affordable, easy to carry, and solid proof of citizenship for everyday situations. Definitely worth it for peace of mind.