Rueben Antonio Cruz was sitting with a friend in Rogers Park when ICE agents pulled up onto the street.
The immigration officers stopped their truck and went straight after them on Oct. 9, Cruz told the Tribune.
“They asked us if we have papers. I said I do but I don’t have them on me,” Cruz, a 60-year old man with heart problems originally from El Salvador, recalled in Spanish.
The agents stood Cruz up, put him in their truck, drove around in circles, and asked questions, he said.
Ahh I see we are officially transitioning into the “papers, please” stage of fascism already. Buckle up folks, the road only gets rougher from here on out. The witch hunts don’t stop here.
To be fair I believe it is a legal requirement for non citizens to carry their papers on them. https://international.northeastern.edu/ogs/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/DRAFTv5-FAQStatusDocs-3.24.25.pdf
This is not condoning the behavior of any of this b.s. that has been going on. But just trying to share information.
Greencard Perm Resident here who read all their paperwork very carefully thrice so I didn’t have to hire a lawyer, can confirm am always supposed to carry it.
No kidding. TIL. That’s still pretty lame though.
Under federal law, registered foreign nationals must carry proof of registration with them at all times. But prior to a second Trump administration, it was rarely enforced.
Apparently green-card holders have to carry their green cards around all the time. This law was so rarely enforced that I never knew about it despite having been a green-card holder myself.
My friend got her green card about 20 years ago, and she said they made it very clear she needed to carry it at all times.
I guess similar to jaywalking. Very few people ever get fined/charged with it even though it being a crime in most states in the US.
And if he had his papers, they would have said they were fake, confiscated them, and hassled him anyway:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/24/us-citizen-detained-ice-real-id
Now that’s some 1939 Gestapo crap if I’ve ever seen it.
I hope he gets rich from suing them.
It’s technically illegal to not carry your green card. But it’s also authoritarian as fuck to kidnap somebody because they didn’t have it on them.
And beeline to the poc.
I just wish it didn’t come from our taxes. Should come from their pay and/or benefits.
Should come from their pay and/or benefits.
I agree.
However, I’m more than happy to contribute my share of taxes to this man’s payout specifically because fuck ICE
He was technically required to have his papers on him and the Supreme Court made it legal to racially profile people… which is just sad but it does mean he has no recourse
That’s the most American rebuttal to this - too bad the Supreme Court is in Trump’s pocket.
From the article:
“I feel sad because, even though we were born here, that doesn’t matter any more,” the cousin said. She added: “To have our skin color has, apparently, become a crime. And it has become a crime deserving of this type of treatment – as if we were real criminals.”
😶
So, if you’re a legal immigrant and get “randomly” asked for your paperwork, you have to produce it on the spot or face a fine?
What if you’re a legal immigrant and just say you were born here? No native born citizen carries around their passport
Or can they also fine native born white Americans for their birth certificate and fine them if they don’t have it? But we just don’t hear about it because they don’t bother “randomly” checking white people?
Since when is failing to carry a passport a civil offense… What law covers this?
Seems like ICE is starting to make up laws now to justify their BS with more BS
I mean, sad as it is, fines are an improvement over just straight kidnapping people regardless of citizenship.
The bar is in hell.
I mean they kidnapped him too when they stood him up and put him in a car for a drive around the block
Maybe they let ya back out… maybe ya end up like Emmett Till or James Byrd Jr
Papers please lol
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Bad advice
Can white liberals/leftists please stop telling minorities to do open defiance that will get them killed
That will be a fun law suit
Not defending the actions of these agents, but I’m so glad he only got a fine and not deported.
Btw, there are many enforced laws just like the requirement to carry greencard, for example, “legal weed” is a misnomer, weed is still federally illegal, so if you are a non-citizen or know someone who is a non-citizen, please know that: do not using weed or posessing weed until either (A) you get citizenship (remember: you aren’t officially a citizen until the oath ceremony and get the papers), OR (B) decides to abandon the US forever.
This has been the law even before current political shenanigans.
They could potentially retroactively revoke citizenship if they found out about your weed usage/possession before you got citizenship.
If you are a citizen, the first thing you wanna say when you get detained/arrested/workplace-raid is tell them you’re a citizen immediately, tell them your name and identifying info, A photo of your papers can help too.
The outcome all depends on whether you get the “standard” assholes who only mildly harass you, or get very unlucky and get the the MAGA assholes.
Nothing new. Wife is green card holder and they were clear it must always be with her when we got it almost 10 years ago
