To arrest one foreign car-making executive under Alabama’s new tough immigration laws may be regarded as a misfortune; to arrest a second looks like carelessness.
A judge has acted to put a Japanese employee of Honda Motor Company out of his misery by dismissing immigration charges against him, three days after he was booked under Alabama’s new immigration laws that have been billed as the most swingeing in America. Ichiro Yada is one of about 100 Japanese managers of the company on assignment in southern state.
Yada was stopped in Leeds, Alabama, at a checkpoint set up by police to catch unlicenced drivers. He was ticketed on the spot, despite the fact that he showed an international driver’s licence, a valid passport and a US work permit.
Key parts of the new immigration law, HB56, came into effect in late September, including the driving provisions. Under them, the police are required to check up on the immigration status of anyone they stop who they suspect of being in the country illegally…
Yada is the second foreign car executive to fall foul of the new law. Last month police officers arrested a German director of Mercedes-Benz for failing to carry a valid driver’s licence. The move exposed Alabama to widespread criticism and ridicule…
The St Louis-based Post-Dispatch newspaper revelled in Alabama’s embarrassment by publishing an open letter to foreign car companies encouraging them to pack their bags and move to the rival car-producing state of Missouri.
“We are the Show Me State, not the Show Me Your Papers State,” it wrote, telling auto bosses: “You’ve got two choices. Either ask your executives to carry their immigration papers at all times, or move to a state that understands gemüchlichkeit…”
Bamalama coppers probably think an international driver’s license is just for driving outside Dixie.
What’s this about being asked for ID papers in other countries?
I travel outside the US several months out of the year, mostly on business, and have done so for the past 20 years. I’ve been throughout the middle east, Europe, Asia, and South Africa. I’ve even been in Libya. I have never once been stopped by a policeman and asked for my papers. And my US driver’s license is perfectly acceptable when it comes to renting cars abroad.
I’m frankly puzzled by people here who claim they’re regularly stopped and asked for ID in countries outside the US. I always leave my passport in the hotel room safe. Having once been pickpocketed in Paris, where the thieves are real pros, I know what a hassle it is to deal with losing your ID, so I move about town with just my credit cards, hotel room key, and driver’s license.
And I’m also puzzled by the driver’s license stops in Alabama. Here in Maine, they never stop you just to check your license. Legally, there needs to be a primary reason before the police are allowed to stop you (e.g., traffic violation). Is Alabama that different from the rest of the US?
On second thought, is Alabama PART of the US?
Lucky you. I have about your same mileage and I have been asked for papers abroad.
My experience matches yours. I have travelled extensively, and lived internationally including in some bona fide police states.
I show ID when clearing customs, and in some more metropolitan countries when renting a room. But in general I am never asked for papers. In fact, in a number of countries I don’t even get ID checked when arriving at the airport.
The US has far more ID checks than almost any country in the world, and definitely more than any nation considered free. It is also the only place where you are routinely demanded to provide identification numbers for purposes that have nothing to do with filing taxes.
Read the article. He was asked for and produced all the required documentation, and yest was still charged.
“He was ticketed on the spot, despite the fact that he showed an international driver’s licence, a valid passport and a US work permit.”
In TN they don’t seem to stop you unless you’ve done something that gives them a reason. That is it’s been decade since I was stopped.
Back when I was much, much younger they used to do the occasional road block and ask to see your license. You held it up and if valid they waved you on.
In Texas they have cause and can pull you over if your license plate frame obstructs even the smallest amount of writing on the plate, e.g. the name of the state….
First link on Google
http://drizzten.com/blog/2007/02/license_plate_frames_banned_in.html
If you’re unlucky enough to get pulled over, and the police ask you to walk-and-turn, or do the one-leg test, it is your right to say no, because it’s completely voluntary. Don’t take the bait!