Mercedes manager from Germany arrested in Alabama

[trof]

From the Unintended Consequences Department, aka the "Yes we shot ourselves in the foot, but it hardly hurts at all" File.

"TUSCALOOSA, Alabama — A German manager with Mercedes-Benz is free after being arrested for not having a driver's license with him under Alabama's new law targeting illegal immigrants, authorities said Friday, in an otherwise routine case that drew the attention of Gov. Robert Bentley.

Tuscaloosa Police Chief Steven Anderson told The Associated Press an officer stopped a rental vehicle for not having a tag Wednesday night and asked the driver for his license. The man only had a German identification card, so he was arrested and taken to police headquarters, Anderson said."
http://blog.al.com/wire/2011/11/immigration_law_mercedes_manag.html

:rofl:

[AsahinaKimi]

1. That will

Teach these foreigners to drive on AMERICAN ROADS!!!
:sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm:

[Edweird]

2. How do they treat illegal immigrants in Germany?

[ProdigalJunkMail]

3. are you assuming he is illegal?

i guess the cops did...

sP

[Edweird]

4. Ever been to a foreign country? You're required to carry proof that you are permitted to be there

with you at all times. What part of that is confusing you? Also, as a side note - he's German, not Mexican and that kinda blows holes in that "it's a racist law against brown people" thing....

[ProdigalJunkMail]

5. um...i would wager i have traveled quite a bit more than you

so i am very familiar with the identification laws in several countries.

and who the fuck said anything about 'brown people'?

sP

[Edweird]

8. see post 7 below...

[ProdigalJunkMail]

12. oh, so you were responding to the ethereal 'them'

to make your point rather than responding to me...gotcha.

sP

[Edweird]

13. Correct. I was taking a shot at a position I had seen posited often - not at a

statement or position of yours in this discussion. I should have made that more clear.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

18. gotcha...i don't like the law either

the way it is...and i agree that it totally is for targeting 'tha brown'...

sP

[Edweird]

25. Umm

I work for a living. Real, no BS, demanding physical labor. I believe that I am entitled to a fair, living wage for my labor and I have no objections to laws that deter foreign nationals from lowering my wages and standard of living. Every country in the world restricts immigration for that very reason and curiously the more 'socialistic' a country is the higher the standard of living is along with more stringent it's immigration policies are.
"They aren't hurting anybody" is a vicious lie and while I support the idea of a living wage for all, I would enjoy seeing those that are happy to destroy my wages to masturbate their inflated sense moral superiority have THEIR jobs outsourced/H1B'd/TFA'd until they 'get it'.

We appear to disagree.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

37. I think you are taking something wrong

this law is for targeting the mexican invasion...that it was applied against a caucasian in this case doesn't change the fact of the intent of the law. Using the '' around tha brown was meant to be a mocking of people here on DU who assume that it is simply because of their skin color that they are being targeted when in reality it is defense against what is just about as close to an invasion as it gets.

the invasion here in GA destroyed labor rates for construction of residential homes to the point that people who had made a decent living doing drywall and masonry were forced out of the business just to stay afloat. this started back in the late 80's when I was competing against people willing to work for 1/2 to 1/3 what I could even afford to...

sP

[ArcticFox]

6. What are you talking about?

All you need is a passport to visit any of the Schengen countries. When you stay at a hotel they often hold your passport.Thus, you would not be carrying it around.

[CountAllVotes]

9. do not EVER give YOUR passport to anyone

It can be easily copied if you had not thought about it.

It happens all the time.

They wanted my passport in London and I told them NO and I told them if they did not like this answer that they should contact the American Embassy (that shut them up fast).

Beware while traveling and again, DO NOT give your passport to anyone.

[Edweird]

10. Your response has no relevance whatsoever. Also, only an idiot would give their passport up

to anyone for any reason other than a legitimate government confiscation.

[pitohui]

32. you do know the illegal problem in germany is turks, not other schengen countries right?

not sure what any of you guys are talking about...

i won't defend this law but at the end of the day we have to do something to stop the "cheap labor"/scab supporters from driving wages down to nothing, they're close to nothing as it is

and it has been YEARS since european hotels hold your passports, i remember this from the 1980s but in 21st c. germany? not so much, i've never had it happen

[lector]

7. Not really

It was a law put together with the Mexicans in mind! It just happened they caught a German, If he was a Mexican without his papers he would already be out of the country. Just saying :-)

[indepat]

16. Hopefully Mercedes Benz won't pack up it plant and move it somewhere else

;) :patriot:

[Edweird]

19. Or maybe mr. executive is hoping Mercedes Benz doesn't come down too hard on him.

[CreekDog]

26. the solution is to arrest everybody?

wrong board buddy. Free Republic is at a different URL.

[Edweird]

28. The putrid stench of elitism surrounds you.

Outsourcing is horrible because it hurts tech workers - can't have that!
TFA terrible because it lowers the wages of teachers - the horror!
H1B's - oh noes!

Illegal immigrants? They only crush the wages of Blue collar workers. They aren't hurting ANYBODY!

Anti-Labor "dems" disgust me. They are the lowest of the low.

[Xicano]

33. Nope

I've been to a few foreign countries and in everyone of them you were not required to "carry" proof you were permitted to be there. Passports and visa's are collected by and left with the hotel.

Also, your point about a German being pulled over and falling under this law doesn't blow any hole in the fact that this law was written because of racism against brown people. This German being pulled over doesn't change the fact this law was written to target brown people.

This law would not have been written if it were not all the latest rage among racists to target Mexicans and other brown people south of the border.

[treestar]

22. He proved he was legal

So unfortunately, the advocates of said law will say it "worked."

However it does make life a bit less pleasant for visitors to Alabama, which is foolish considering that they want to attract foreign car makers!

[treestar]

21. Irrelevant. We follow our own laws.

[Edweird]

24. It's quite relevant to my point which is that our immigration enforcement laws are nowhere near

as draconian as some posters are attempting to make them sound. They are still, even with Alabama and Arizona, on the lenient and permissive side of things.

[CreekDog]

27. The Arizona law requires me, born in California, to have passport to travel there

Arizona. My California license was granted without any proof of citizenship, nor did I use a Social Security card to get it.

Thus, if I don't have proof of citizenship, and a license which didn't require proof, I face arrest in Arizona.

If you support that, you cannot honestly state that you support American Democracy.

[Edweird]

29. So basically your driver's license holds less authority than a library card?

The new enhanced licenses are available. Get one - problem solved.

[CreekDog]

30. i have a legal license

i'm an American and it is wrong to arrest me for not carrying citizenship papers.

[pitohui]

34. creekdog in practice this is not how it works for a lot of people

i've been stopped at numerous checkpoints in nevada, arizona, and texas, and no one has ever asked to see my passport even though my driver's license application goes back to the 1970s at which time i don't think anyone showed proof of citizenship to get a driver's license, indeed, at some of these checkpoints they just ask a question, i answer, and they wave me on without looking at ANY papers

they ask you a few questions and hear your accent, and in a few words, most of the time you're waived on

now it's more difficult if you're a legal citizen or legal resident who has an accent, in that case, yes, you do have to have some other proof and in that case i would definitely keep at least a color copy of my passport with me (the passport itself usually lives at the bank when i'm not traveling internationally)

but if some people are reporting different experiences, this is why

a lot of germans have a LOT of trouble losing their accent, even over generations, so i'm guessing the german guy in question had an accent and this sparked the prejudice of the police

i've seen it a number of times and they are trying to hear your voice, some accents occur nowhere except america, and in those cases, those accents are as good or better than a piece of paper, but if you have a more cosmopolitan accent, yeah, it may be more hassle

i can tell they're listening for something and i get waved thru if it's an immigration check-- there has never been anyone except a few americans in a small area of the south who have ever had my particular accent

i get searched if it's a drugs/guns/money check because i'm just a strange person who often travels alone, and this triggers the searches, so i'm pretty good at figuring out what the different checks are about -- in my case no one gives a flying about my documents, if they're checking citizenship, they pass me by, if they're looking for something else, they still don't care about my papers, they want to see what's in my car!

i don't support any of this nonsense, i think if you are a bad guy, you should get on your computer and print out what you need, and if you are a good guy, same thing, carry copies of your proof, only in the case of the good guy presumably the proof will be genuine...either way it's a load of horseshit most of the time

[CreekDog]

35. have you heard of the Arizona SB1070?

the law that was passed in recent years?

do you know anything about what that law *says*?

it doesn't appear so.

[JVS]

36. They sent me a letter threatening jail once when they misplaced my paperwork.

In accordance with the letter, I showed up at the town hall to do the paperwork I had done months before hand. I got to the head of the line and they guy says "I've seen you here before" and I replied "Exactly! So let's clear this up" as I handed him the letter. 30 seconds later, I've got a special note and they've found my stuff.

[trof]

11. Let me elaborate:

1. Police jurisdictions all over the state have complained about this law. Many police chiefs have said outright that they don't understand what it says, and cannot enforce it nor explain to their officers how to enforce it. It is arguably the worst, most poorly crafted and written piece of legislation to come out of the state house since they voted to secede.

2. The Mercedes plant in Northport, AL (next to Tuscaloosa) is a sacred cow in Alabama. It is the state's holy grail of corporation recruitment (into the state), industry, job creation, etc., etc.
It is cited to all other corporations, national and foreign, that Alabama tries to woo.

I think this is the Tuscaloosa police chief's "EFF YOU!" to the legislature. 'You want us to incarcerate "illegals" under this POS law? OK, by god we will, and let the chips fall where they may!'
Good for him.
:-)

[malthaussen]

23. I Think you may have it, there

This Alabama law is just another sterling example of the disconnect between the people who make the laws and the people who enforce them or have to obey them. I can well imagine the Tuscaloosa chief deciding to flip the bird to the State House by rigidly enforcing the law.

-- Mal

[eShirl]

14. Oh wow, a German getting nabbed by an American "Your Papers, Please" law.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

17. now that IS pretty funny... n/t

[and-justice-for-all]

15. sheisse..nt

[treestar]

20. Interesting:

Mercedes-Benz, which is a division of Daimler AG, builds sport-utility vehicles at a large plant in Vance, about 20 miles east of Tuscaloosa. The automaker's decision to open a factory in Alabama in 1993 was considered a major coup for the state's economic development efforts and launched a trend of other foreign automakers and suppliers who opened major factories in the state, including Honda, Toyota and Hyundai.

The state of Alabama seems willing to harm its own economy in the name of enforcement of federal laws it does not have to enforce!

[trof]

31. Not federal laws. A new STATE law.

You miss the whole point.
The federal government is suing to OVERTURN this new draconian state law.
Handed down by our recently elected repug majority state legislature.
It's a stupid law.
Google it and do some research.
:eyes:

[Major Nikon]

38. Thank you Alabama GOPhers...

for making the US look like a bunch of dipshit xenophobic rubes.