>And yes, I agree. On multiple occasions in my adult life, I've "proved" my citizenship under threat of perjury, but that is only to say: I've made a statement on a form with my signature on it. My word alone was ~enough.
Sorry for the late reply.
You're absolutely right. As I said, that wasn't a "gotcha", but rather an acknowledgement that "proving" legal status to the Federal government, while gamed by those without such status, still carries criminal penalties if you're caught lying. And the same is true for RealID as well.
>But element 3, legal presence, is a bit tougher. There's a number of documents that are accepted, but only one of them is applicable to a plain-Jane native-born-Ohioan who does not have a passport.
>That document is an original birth certificate, or a certified copy of one.
A fair point. Weirdly, I had my original birth certificate for many years but it disintegrated. So when I needed it get a RealID (although I already have a passport which I also renewed around the same time) I was able to go online to the County Clerk in New York County, New York (better known as Manhattan) and get a certified copy of my birth certificate for a nominal fee (I'd note that a third-party fulfilled the order for a certified copy, with an additional credit card usage fee).
Which made things much easier as I was concerned I'd need to go to the County Clerk's at least once, possibly more to obtain a certified copy.
Not sure if Ohio County Clerks will do the same. If not, that sucks.
In any case, while it's more than mostly security theater, it wasn't (especially given that I needed a new driver's license anyway) all that big a deal for me. That could be radically different (and more difficult) for others, both those from other counties and who may not have been (mostly much older folks) included in registered births.
So yeah, it's basically yanking our chains for no good reason other than Congress posturing that they're "tough" on terrorism and co-opting the states to do all the hard work. Sigh.
Sorry for the late reply.
You're absolutely right. As I said, that wasn't a "gotcha", but rather an acknowledgement that "proving" legal status to the Federal government, while gamed by those without such status, still carries criminal penalties if you're caught lying. And the same is true for RealID as well.
>But element 3, legal presence, is a bit tougher. There's a number of documents that are accepted, but only one of them is applicable to a plain-Jane native-born-Ohioan who does not have a passport.
>That document is an original birth certificate, or a certified copy of one.
A fair point. Weirdly, I had my original birth certificate for many years but it disintegrated. So when I needed it get a RealID (although I already have a passport which I also renewed around the same time) I was able to go online to the County Clerk in New York County, New York (better known as Manhattan) and get a certified copy of my birth certificate for a nominal fee (I'd note that a third-party fulfilled the order for a certified copy, with an additional credit card usage fee).
Which made things much easier as I was concerned I'd need to go to the County Clerk's at least once, possibly more to obtain a certified copy.
Not sure if Ohio County Clerks will do the same. If not, that sucks.
In any case, while it's more than mostly security theater, it wasn't (especially given that I needed a new driver's license anyway) all that big a deal for me. That could be radically different (and more difficult) for others, both those from other counties and who may not have been (mostly much older folks) included in registered births.
So yeah, it's basically yanking our chains for no good reason other than Congress posturing that they're "tough" on terrorism and co-opting the states to do all the hard work. Sigh.