One of the first lines of dialogue in the screenplay for “Casablanca” is, “May we see your papers, please?”
In the celebrated 1942 film, a policeman in the Vichy-controlled city delivers the phrase without the “please,” but over the eight decades since, “Papers, please” has evolved into a shorthand for the dull dread and ever-present menace of life under authoritarianism.
Trump may fully normalize the concept that Americans should not only be carrying government-issued identification at all times, but proof of citizenship as well.
President Donald Trump, without an act of Congress or even an executive order — but through his chaos-as-normalcy governing style and “just try and stop me” approach to any legal limits on his presidential authority — has already made this a “Papers, please” country for some of us — including U.S. citizens. And if we don’t recognize what’s happening to “the land of the free” very soon, Trump may fully normalize the concept that Americans should not only be carrying government-issued identification at all times, but proof of citizenship as well.
There isn’t a “Papers, please” law for U.S. citizens, but Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion in the court’s Sept. 8 stay order created the concept of what Drexel University law professor Anil Kalhan coined a “Kavanaugh stop.”
In layman’s terms, the justice wrote that while immigration enforcement officers must have “reasonable suspicion” to stop someone and inquire into their immigration status, a person’s “race or apparent ethnicity” or “speaking Spanish or speaking English with an accent” can be considered relevant factors in justifying a stop. But, Kavanaugh continued, if a person’s legal status is established, then the person should be promptly let go.
How can an American prove their citizenship to aggressive masked agents who accost them on the street? Without “papers,” their freedom is at the whim of the agents. And even with “papers,” a growing amount of evidence shows their swift return to freedom is no guarantee.
In practice, if not in letter, Kavanaugh’s opinion allows immigration officers to stop and detain anyone who looks like an immigrant. And let’s be real here, ICE isn’t scouring the country for Irish bartenders who overstayed their visas; they’re targeting people of color — including those originally from Africa and the Middle East, but overwhelmingly those from Latin America. And many U.S. citizens whose presumed ethnicity is seen as a “relevant factor” to immigration enforcement officers are being manhandled and even imprisoned because they didn’t have their “papers” readily available.
The vagueness of the “Kavanaugh stop” language has created confusion that benefits the Trump administration and the officers tasked with executing its ruthless mass deportation campaign. That ambiguity also lets the government roughshod over the rights of innocent people — including U.S. citizens.
One of the lies that Americans have long told themselves is that “it can’t happen here.”
To cite just a few recent examples, this month, a 20-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Somalia was tackled in Minneapolis by a masked man running full speed at him. Mubashir (he only gave reporters his first name) said the man never identified himself or even said he was conducting an immigration stop. Despite Mubashir telling agents he was a U.S. citizen and offering to produce a digital Real ID, agents detained him for hours. The incident was so egregious that Minneapolis’ police chief and mayor apologized to the young man, even though it’s the federal government that owes the apology.
In May, Leonardo Garcia Venegas, a 25-year-old U.S. citizen of Mexican descent was violently arrested at his construction job site in Alabama, even after he produced a Real ID that agents dismissed as “fake.” He remained handcuffed for hours and was only released after agents confirmed his citizenship through his social security number. A ProPublica investigation published in October found more than 170 U.S. citizens had been detained or arrested by ICE this year, with some “kicked, dragged and detained for days.”
And while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem declared in October that “no American citizens have been arrested or detained,” a Senate subcommittee report released this month featured accounts from 22 U.S. citizens who reported being “physically assaulted, pepper sprayed, denied medical treatment, and detained — sometimes for days — by federal immigration agents” and detailed allegations of “the ignoring or denial of claims of citizenship and refusal to release Americans who have valid proof of citizenship readily available.” Further adding to the chaos and confusion is Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino, who responded to a tweet about the arrest of Mubashir — a U.S. citizen — by saying “A Real ID is not an immigration document.” Bovino is right, it’s not. But U.S. citizens are not required to carry government-issued identification at all times. Period. The problem, in plain English, is that Americans have the right to not be manhandled in the streets by law enforcement — without due process — for not carrying their “papers.” But that’s not how it’s working in Trump’s America. One of the lies that Americans have long told themselves is that “it can’t happen here.” Surely the land of rugged individualism and robust civil liberties protections enumerated in the Constitution could never fall under the yoke of a regime that would potentially demand proof of our citizenship any moment we stepped outside. But the second Trump administration is showing that not only can it happen here, but that it can happen very quickly, and it can happen without any laws being changed. As the Trump administration’s firehose of lawlessness, vindictiveness and racism continues apace, U.S. citizens — particularly those of color or with Spanish surnames — must now risk detention and other violations of their rights if they do not live every day as though they are living in a “Papers, please” country. But like the policeman in “Casablanca,” agents of the government might not bother with the “please.”
Anthony L. Fisher is a senior editor and opinion columnist for MS NOW. 
