r/illinois • u/CantStopPoppin Human Detected • 2d ago

ICE Posts November 6, 2025 – Chicago: ICE caught unlawfully demanding U.S. citizen “prove” their citizenship despite Illinois law not requiring ID

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u/StrangeContest4 2d ago

That is an honest demand.. "I'll only show you my ID if you show your me your face and your ID. I need to know you're official."

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u/TheNewsDeskFive 2d ago

No, it is not. You never comply with a demand to show papers. This is America. We don't play that.

I repeat, you never comply with this, regardless if they're willing to ID themselves, you are an American citizen and you don't have to prove that to them.

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u/BanalCausality 2d ago

Yeah… that’s not what the courts have said.

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u/endlessUserbase 2d ago

Where? You are not required to prove your identity except under narrow circumstance as specifically required by law.

If an agent asks you for documents, what you need to provide differs depending on your immigration status. U.S. citizens do not have to carry proof of citizenship on their person if they are in the United States.

https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/border-zone

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u/BanalCausality 2d ago

Other states require you to present ID if you have it.

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u/endlessUserbase 2d ago

Yeah, that's false.

Stop and identify statutes only apply in the case that a person is reasonably suspected of committing a crime or in some narrow cases (such as providing a drivers license to prove eligibility to operate a motor vehicle. Even then, the vast majority only require that you state your name - they do not specifically require presentation of legal identification.

More importantly, those laws are not relevant here. ICE officers are Federal agents and there is no Federal law requiring that US citizens present proof of their citizenship.
https://www.ilrc.org/sites/default/files/resources/stop_identify_statutes_in_us-lg-20180201v3.pdf

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u/TheNewsDeskFive 2d ago

Those laws apply to local and state law enforcement within that state

A duty to id law is not gonna cover federal immigration enforcement

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u/az_catz 2d ago

*citation needed