If someone runs a red light or whatever and is stopped for it then proving legality to be on sovereign U.S. soil shouldn't be a problem. Now, I don't want to have police randomly stopping people on the street all day instead of doing their real work but I do want them checking and confirming as an adjunct to their regular duties.
No need to go all super uber patriotic drama queen there with the "sovereign U.S. soil" superlative thing, Leo. Just plain "in the country" would be fine. Sovereignty refers to a governing authority, and if someone runs a red light or whatever in the United States,
but is on Indian Land, that land isn't "sovereign U.S. soil", it's sovereign Indian soil, and there's a lot lot lot of sovereign Indian land in places like Arizona. An alien can be in this country illegally but still not be on sovereign U.S. soil, absolutely.
Indian tribal nations are "domestic dependent nations" and are treated largely in the same manner as the States, where one state does not have criminal and civil jurisdiction over another, so too do states not have jurisdiction on Indian land. Tribal sovereignty is dependent on, and subordinate to, only the federal government, not states. Tribes are sovereign over tribal members and tribal land, and have civil authority over non-members within tribal lands
only to the extent necessary to protect health, welfare, economic interests or political integrity of the tribal nation.
Also, while I'm at it, because it's been bugging me since this thread went up, a "criminal alien" isn't simply someone who comes to the US illegally. They are properly called "illegal aliens", not "criminal aliens". In order to be a criminal, by definition, you must first be convicted of a crime. Until that happens, you are at most an alleged criminal. A "criminal alien" is an alien who has been convicted of a crime, regardless of their immigration status.
BTW, my problems with "show me your papers" is, among others, because I have actually experienced it. A few years ago I was in Laredo and standing along the perimeter of the Flying J parking lot, down in front of the restaurant windows, but far from the entrance doors, talking with a fellow expediter from Van Wert, OH. He "looked" very Mexican, even though he and his parents were born in Van Wert. It's his grandparents who came here from Mexico. He speaks very little Spanish, actually. We were standing there minding our own business when a US Customs officer approached us, looking mainly at the other guy, and asked to see our Green Cards.
The man from Van Wert offered up his CDL, and then was asked if he was a US citizen, to which he replied yes. The officer then asked me if I was a US citizen, and my reply was somewhat uncooperative and to look at him quizzically like I didn't understand a word of English. He then, somewhat impatiently, demanded my Green Card and then my driver's license, to which I somewhat angrily stated, NO!" and flatly told him that he didn't have the authority to pick and choose which parts of the Constitution he wanted to abide by, and he had no right or probable cause to ask me for my ID. He then asked which vehicle in the lot was mine, and without another word I turned and walked away and entered the building and took a seat in the restaurant. He didn't follow.
Two guys standing there minding their own business get asked for their papers, one because he
looked a certain way, and me because I was guilty by association. Since that time the Laredo Field Office of the USCBP and I traded a couple of correspondence volleys and all is well, but it still pіsses me off. I can only imagine how
Mexican-looking US citizens feel under more stressful situations in places like Laredo and Arizona.
