Thread: A Protest Over Bus and Train Citizenship Checks

April 2, 2008, 5:01 pm
A Protest Over Bus and Train Citizenship Checks
By Jennifer 8. Lee


Protesters chanted in front of Pennsylvania Station before marching to the Port Authority along Eighth Avenue. (Photo: Todd Heisler/The New York Times)Can you be asked to demonstrate your citizenship or residency if you are riding on Amtrak or Greyhound inside the United States?
The answer, apparently, is yes — according to the United States government’s border and transportation officials.

But the frequency of this practice in New York State has raised protests from immigration advocates, who demonstrated in a march on Wednesday afternoon between Pennsylvania Station and Port Authority Bus Terminal.
It used to be a practice that was heard about only once in a while near upstate cities like Buffalo and Syracuse, said Maria Muentes, a spokeswoman with Families For Freedom, a group that helps people fight deportation. “Now we’re seeing it several times a week.â€

"They should warn people that this could happen". Is this woman serious?

Is she suggesting that we should warn people, "Hey, if you're here illegally, we WILL be checking so perhaps you should get off the train/bus".

Oh, I forgot, the warning should probably be in Spanish, lest we get sued for that, too.

The whole argument is plain silly. To illustrate, if you got a ticket for jaywalking you might get upset since it's so rarely enforced, but you'd at least understand. These people are on our soil illegally and claim they deserve a warning?

This is plain folly.

But how does one exactly prove citizenship? It’s not like we’re walking around with citizenship cards, despite attempts at a national ID card, or a proxy for one. Hardly anyone carries birth certificates (which don’t have photos anyway, and even if they did, who looks the same as when they were one-day old?). And driver’s licenses, which may or may not become de facto national IDs, are not equated to legal residence as the furor over issuing licenses to illegal immigrants have

I tell you what , produce a valid ID or drivers license and let the law enforcement official figure it out!

These illegal invaders and those who advocate on their behalf have gone too far in this country!

I'm really, really getting sick of these people!

Illegal aliens have been using AMTrAK and bus lines like Greyhound and others fro years ....Greyhound was supposed to have implemented an internal plan to check identification when boarding or purchasing a ticket as iit had found in the past that traffickers were using busses to transport illegal aliens. Any bus company worth their salt should be checking identfication anyway so as not to get caught up in the human trafficking schemes.

Trans-Bridge Bus lines originating from the Port Authority in New York and making stops in Scranton, PA, Doylestown, Pa, New HOpe, PA and points in Jersey as well ought to be investigated by ICE as well.

twin faqlls idaho comes to mind where they had a bust .. illegals coming in and being dispatched to other states go Figure