Social:Your papers, please

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Short description: Expression associated with police state functionaries

German Ordnungspolizei officers examining a man's papers in Nazi-occupied Poland, 1941

"Your papers, please" (or "papers, please") is an expression or trope associated with police state functionaries demanding identification from civilians during random stops or at checkpoints.[1] It is a cultural metaphor for life in a police state.[2][3]

The phrase was popularized as the first line in the classic 1942 movie Casablanca which depicted life in Vichy-controlled Casablanca during World War II. The film opens with a scene of police officers searching a hotel for refugees fleeing from Nazi-controlled territory. The first line of the film is spoken by a police officer to a civilian he stopped on the street: "May we see your papers?" The civilian produces a document, but a second police officer declares that it "expired three weeks ago" and begins to tell the civilian he is under arrest. The civilian attempts to flee the police, but a gunshot is heard and the civilian falls to the ground.[4]

Use in the United Kingdom

In 2009, the Conservative Party leader David Cameron used the trope with a German accent whilst criticising the idea of ID cards in the United Kingdom by asking a Q&A session "Where are your papers?".[5]

A report from Big Brother Watch, a London-based nongovernmental privacy advocacy group, says police use of facial recognition technology in public spaces is like people being "asked for their papers without their consent".[6][7]

Use in the United States

The phrase has been used disparagingly in the debate over Real ID and national ID cards in the United States.[8][9][10]

It has also been used to refer to interactions with civilians during police stops[11][12] and immigration enforcement.[13] Arizona's controversial SB 1070 law requiring people to carry identification was dubbed the "Papers, Please" law.[14]

The phrase has also been used by the press in relation to a February 2017 incident in which U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents searching for a suspect demanded identification from passengers exiting a domestic flight.[15][16] In January 2018, bus passengers allege that Border Patrol agents boarded a Greyhound bus in Florida and demanded U.S. identification or a passport from all of those on board.[17]

A lawsuit against Glendale, Arizona, police officers alleges that a passenger in a car was tasered on the genitals after he asked an officer why he needed to identify himself during a 2017 traffic stop.[18]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the phrase was used to refer to vaccine mandate policies enacted in places like New York City.[19][20]

During the second presidency of Donald Trump, the phrase has been used to describe the process of immigration agents requesting proof of citizenship from suspected undocumented immigrants.[21][22]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Duncan Long (1 January 2007). Protect Your Privacy: How to Protect Your Identity as Well as Your Financial, Personal, and Computer Records in an Age of Constant Surveillance. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 223–. ISBN 978-1-59921-687-4. https://books.google.com/books?id=8HhM3bbHlGUC&pg=PA223. 
  2. ↑ Margaret Hu (November 15, 2011). "'Show Me Your Papers' Laws and American Cultural Values". Jurist. http://www.jurist.org/forum/2011/11/margaret-hu-immigration-papers.php. 
  3. ↑ Michael A. Caloyannides (2004). Privacy Protection and Computer Forensics. Artech House. pp. 298–. ISBN 978-1-58053-831-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=_FweqDY1c34C&pg=PA298. 
  4. ↑ Epstein, Julius. "Casablanca Screenplay". http://mckeestory.com/wp-content/uploads/Digital-CASABLANCA.pdf. 
  5. ↑ "David Cameron adopts German accent to mock ID cards". 15 June 2009. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/5544590/David-Cameron-adopts-German-accent-to-mock-ID-cards.html. 
  6. ↑ Burdeau, Cain (July 5, 2019). "Report Blasts London Police Use of Facial Recognition Cameras". Courthouse News. https://www.courthousenews.com/report-blasts-london-police-use-of-facial-recognition-cameras/. 
  7. ↑ Face Off: The lawless growth of facial recognition in UK policing (Report). Big Brother Watch. May 2018. p. 7. https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Face-Off-final-digital-1.pdf. Retrieved 2023-01-23. 
  8. ↑ "Panel Discussion: Your Papers Please, What the Real ID Act Means for American Values". New York Civil Liberties Union. 15 April 2008. http://www.nyclu.org/content/panel-discussion-your-papers-please-what-real-id-act-means-american-values. 
  9. ↑ Sen. Rand Paul (May 24, 2013). "PAUL: Blocking the pathway to a national ID". The Washington Times. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/24/blocking-the-pathway-to-a-national-id/. 
  10. ↑ Tomás R. Jiménez and Mark Krikorian Tomás (February 7, 2008). "Your papers, please". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/la-op-dustup7feb07-story.html. 
  11. ↑ "'Your Papers, Please:' ACLU Urges Supreme Court to Protect Right to Remain Anonymous". American Civil Liberties Union. March 22, 2004. https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/your-papers-please-aclu-urges-supreme-court-protect-right-remain-anonymous. 
  12. ↑ Riggs, Mike (February 25, 2014). "Yes, Police Can Arrest You for Failing to Identify Yourself". Bloomberg.com (CityLab). http://www.citylab.com/crime/2014/02/yes-police-can-arrest-you-refusing-identify-yourself/8485/. 
  13. ↑ Alfonso Serrano (September 7, 2012). "Immigration Update: Arizona Police Can Now Ask, 'Papers Please'". Time. https://nation.time.com/2012/09/07/immigration-update-arizona-police-can-now-ask-papers-please/. 
  14. ↑ Raymond, Adam K. (21 November 2016). "Trump Cabinet Hopeful Forgets Cover Sheet, Exposes DHS Plan for All to See". The New Yorker. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/11/trump-cabinet-hopeful-forgets-cover-sheet-exposes-dhs-plan.html. Retrieved 28 November 2016. 
  15. ↑ Epps, Garrett (February 27, 2017). "Papers, Please". The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/02/papers-please/517887/. 
  16. ↑ Hamilton, Keegan (February 23, 2017). "Your papers, please". Vice. https://www.vice.com/en/article/ice-manhunt-forces-passengers-to-show-id-to-exit-domestic-flight/. 
  17. ↑ Joshua Rhett Miller (January 23, 2018). "Border agent arrest aboard Greyhound bus triggers outcry". New York Post. https://nypost.com/2018/01/23/border-agent-arrest-aboard-greyhound-bus-triggers-outcry/. 
  18. ↑ McLaughlin, Eliott C. (February 10, 2019). "Officer used Taser on man's genitals, says lawsuit accusing Arizona police of torture". CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/10/us/glendale-arizona-police-stun-gun-taser-lawsuit/index.html. 
  19. ↑ "Opinion | Your Vaccine Papers, Please". Wall Street Journal. 3 August 2021. https://www.wsj.com/articles/bill-de-blasio-new-york-city-covid-vaccine-mandate-coercion-11628022693. 
  20. ↑ Torrance, Kelly Jane (19 August 2021). "Unfair Bill de Blasio: Papers, please!". New York Post. https://nypost.com/2021/08/18/unfair-de-blasio-papers-please/. 
  21. ↑ Fisher, Anthony L. (December 21, 2025). "Kavanaugh’s infamous September concurring opinion is already being weaponized by Trump". https://www.ms.now/opinion/trump-brett-kavanaugh-ice-immigration-papers-please-crackdown. "...but through his chaos-as-normalcy governing style and “just try and stop me” approach to any legal limits on his presidential authority — has already made this a “Papers, please” country for some of us — including U.S. citizens" 
  22. ↑ Habeshian, Sareen (May 19, 2025). "Papers please: Trump employs proof of identity tactic to monitor Americans". https://www.axios.com/2025/05/19/trump-100-days-monitor-americans. 



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