BIRD TALK

Dear Bird Talk,

The Arizona SB 1070-style laws seem to have won the recent election in many states, Florida included. Are you tracking this issue? I would like to see a report such as the one which you have on the provinces’ health care: which states have passed such laws, which are pending, what documents they want, do you have to carry these with you, or can you leave them where you are staying, governors’ responses to our concerns…

When we drove across the border, the visa was verbal, which is a bit hard to produce later. We are not even sure that they scanned our passports.
There is probably no way to stop these laws, but it would be nice if you could nudge them to make the laws possible to obey.

Many thanks.

Anna
Ontario

Response:
Ed: Many of our readers seem quite concerned about these “laws” relating to non-U.S. citizens but, to date, we have not heard of any actual problems or issues arising from them. The courts are currently considering the enforcement and legality of these laws, so it is still early in the process. Our basic understanding of these “laws” is that they already exist at the federal level, but are not really enforced, and that these new state “laws” are simply a method to allow state law enforcement officers to respond. I always carry identification, even in Canada, and I am sure that most others do as well, so this appears to be a minor annoyance, at most. We will continue to monitor the situation and please let us know of any instances in which you are required to identify yourself and your status, other than at a border crossing.