They do and you need one to get a driver’s license in NJ (don’t know about other states) You also need to show it to get your I9 cleared for a job - if you don’t have a valid passport. My daughter has one from when she got a number as a baby.
My kids got numbers as babies but no cards. They haven’t needed one and honestly, I think not having a card is okay by them since nothing to lose or have stolen. I think they’ve only had one request for documentation for an I9 for more than a handful of jobs between them.
My 29 and 32 year old kids have SS numbers…and cards.
Both my kids and H & I still have ours. If you lose it, you may need to get a replacement, especially when you’re hired for a job to show it to them (though I believe you can also show other forms to prove citizenship).
My S never got a selective service card mailed to him either, to the best of my memory.
My kids do and they have needed it when starting new jobs. My husband needed his a couple years ago to accept a job and we couldn’t find it so we had to go to the SS office to get a replacement.
My S did get a selective service card (and he registered within 2 years ago).
My kids have them too, and have always needed them for jobs.
@doschicos I’m not sure where I am in relation to your kids’ age but I have one so they were at least issuing them in the early 90s (not sure if it was automatic but I don’t know why my parents would’ve gotten one unless it was automatic…)
Also, I’ve needed to show it for just about every job I’ve been hired for.
I’ve been wondering about that lately…how does someone prove they are a citizen without digging up a passport, SSN, or birth certificate (none of which, I suspect, anyone carries with them routinely)?
The one time one was asked, they used a passport. Usually, they just give their SSN, no card.
I have had the responsibility of verifying I9 for employees - the rule is valid passport or both driver’s license and SS card. Many people still don’t have passports (hard to believe in this day and age) and they use the license and SS card instead.
According to this:
https://www.texasobserver.org/border-patrol-takes-no-for-an-answer-at-internal-checkpoints/
Most people would say “I am a US citizen” and move on.
I never got a voter registration card here in NY. At least not that I know of.
"Many people still don’t have passports (hard to believe in this day and age) "
How hard that is to believe depends very much on the circles you run in. The vast majority of my extended family, for example, probably doens’t have passports. How often do you think most working class people travel abroad?
The article and embedded videos that @coolweather linked are important to read in order to understand one’s rights. You don’t even need to answer that you are a US citizen. The more we all understand our rights, the harder it will be for people to get away with overstepping their boundaries or authority.
Using the video capability of a smart phone can be a good idea as well.
Even most of my friends growing up who regularly go to Canada (short drive) don’t have passports… just enhanced IDs.
Most people don’t travel abroad.
Since having a passport makes domestic air travel easier (and the US government is saying that soon many state driver’s licenses will not meet travel ID standards) I would think everybody would want to have a passport.
I lost my original SS card when my purse was stolen when I was 18 or so. I didn’t get a replacement until 2 years ago, when I switched states and the new state required it in order to get a driver’s license there. You can order a replacement card online but I remember having to mail in some other forms of ID which made me nervous. Still, it was better than waiting around forever in the SS office.
I remember my old card had the words “not to be used as identification” on it!
And not everyone flies very often (or at all), and has over $100 to spend on something that just “makes it easier” to do so.
All 3 of my sons who are registered for selective service received draft cards; H still has his. S17 will be 18 soon and we checked off for him to be automatically registered via FAFSA so I expect he will have a card shortly.
@cobrat - you are correct about asking for ID if there is a notation in the election book.
SS cards are issued. They have been issued at birth since at least the time my oldest son was born in 1990. As a humorous (?) aside, we initially hyphenated oldest son’s name but legally changed it before he was two months old. He was issued a new birth certificate and SS card. I filed the card away and didn’t take it out until he went for his learner’s permit. It was there, at DMV, that I learned for the first time that my son actually had TWO SS numbers. He began to cry because he was so disappointed at not being able to get his permit and when people heard what was going on, several actually offered to BUY the extra card from me! I went home, got the other card from the file, realized that they did not have the same number and drove immediately to the local SS office to surrender one and figure out his legitimate number. I kept the second number because it matched his amended name.
My second son dropped his middle name and uses only his initial so he went to SS and got a new card with that name.
You are only allowed to get a certain number of cards over a lifetime per the SS website so keep that card safe.
I didn’t get a passport until about a couple years ago. So I until recently my whole family would have been on of those without passports in this “day and age”. My D was going to study abroad and needed one, so I made sure the rest of us needed one in case we needed/wanted to visit her (we did).
I also decided to get one because a few months earlier I had lost my driver’s license. And while I was able to get a temporary one right away at the DMV to allow me to drive, it wasn’t a picture ID and left me without a government issued picture ID until I got a new one. And, of course, I happen to need a picture ID in that time frame. Luckily it was something that could wait, but it taught me that I wanted to have another form of ID as a backup in the future.