Given that GA tends to be held in what my mid-atlantic self views as weird corners of the country, doesn't almost everyone who attends GA fly to get there? Don't they need government issued ID to get on the plane?
As for the youth, at least in Virginia, if you're under 15 your mom or dad brings your birth certificate to the DMV, they fill out a form and pay ten bucks and you have government-issued ID. If you're 16 or older, you probably have a learner's permit and if you don't the procedure to get one is as simple as the one for the ID card.
I get that some un-documented immigrants* can't attend GA if government-issued ID is required, but honestly, I'd say the $300+ entry fee and the fact that GA is entirely in English would be greater barriers than getting ahold of a half-convincing fake ID, and the entry fee and English-language have been a fixture of GA since its
inception**.
I guess what I'm getting at is "Enter, Rejoice and Come In as long as you have $300 and speak English" really THAT much more welcoming than "Enter, rejoice and come in as long as you have $300, speak English and have government-issed ID"?
CC
* I've only known three people personally who were in America non-legally, and I know for certain that all three of them had drivers licenses.
**FWIW, the person in America non-legally whom I know best is British, has a drivers license and does have an extra $300, but isn't UU.
5 comments:
Good point, CC, thanks for making it.
pretty much what I was going to say. (except that long distance bus and train you9 have to show ID as well).
- All the high school students I know have government ID too (you have to have one to be a student in the government run High Schools - not sure if a HS ID would be acceptable but it is government ID).
the convention center is not within walking distance of anything (I've been told), so I doubt anyone will be going in and out of the convention center very often...
.. unless the parking lots are a lot hiper than I think they are...
CC,
I don't think it will be a big problem for youth who are attending GA if they are minors.
Here's the relevant info from the UU World online article on this:
"Because the convention center is inside the perimeter of the Port of Fort Lauderdale, everyone 18 and older entering the convention center is required to show a government-issued photo identification card.
For most people that will be a driver's license or a passport. Those under 18 will only be required to have a convention badge, but convention center security guidelines also say that 'minors without identification, who present no obvious threat, will be admitted on a case-by-case basis.'"
http://www.uuworld.org/news/articles/60906.shtml
However, an adult who forgets to carry a government-issued photo ID when attending GA will be "SOL" (it's an old military acronym that means "shit outta luck").
"SOL" (it's an old military acronym that means "shit outta luck").
In an unhappy congruence, it's also a common acronym in Virginia for the Commonwealth's "Standards of Learning" exam.
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