I’m a naturalized citizen. I have a US passport. Do I really need to be walking around everyday with my passport now? Will showing a US passport keep me from being sent to jail and having to explain it later? Who is ICE targeting? I am so confused about what’s true or not.
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Rights will be taken away incrementally, slowly enough that each step seems like an obvious extension of the previous step. It might help you now, but soon it won’t matter.
ICE just ordered held a natural born US citizen who was able to show his birth certificate. He was eventually freed more do to public outcry than the actual law. https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/17/us/lopez-gomez-citizen-detained-ice-florida/index.html
Yes, at this point everyone should probably carry proof of citizenship, but they also need to push back against ICE kidnapping people at random.
>Do I really need to be walking around everyday with my passport now?
i know at least one white naturalized citizen contemplating this, because they got spooked by some german immigrants they knew of being detained at an airport.
>Will showing a US passport keep me from being sent to jail and having to explain it later?
maybe? it will work better than not having anything, but in all honesty, the current administration and ICE are operating in a… not exactly legal area, so no one will be able to tell you for certain.
>Who is ICE targeting?
no one knows for certain. again, they are operating in a… not exactly legal or constitutional area.
my personal thought – if you’re hispanic (naturalized, US-born, or immigrant) or white naturalized and you live in a red or purple state, and it’s not too much trouble, carry a passport around with you[1]. learn who immigration lawyers are and keep your head down. these are dark times, sorry.
[1] unfortunately being in a blue state is not a complete defense. See what happened in Maryland. But you might have a state government that is less likely to defer to ICE procedures or cooperate with ICE.
The sad reality is that it doesn’t matter what paperwork or proof you have. They are kidnapping and disappearing anyone they want, and they are not facing any consequences.
Yes you do. Guy in Florida got arrested yesterday and held for ice with his licence and birth cert at the first hearing they still are holding for ice.