WASHINGTON - s4story -- Many media reports show that more and more worried U.S. citizens are carrying their passports with them everywhere, just in case they may be stopped by immigration enforcement agents [IEAs] and need to prove their citizenship on the spot to avoid detention, harassment, or other problems.

Increasingly, U.S. citizens who think they might be vulnerable to a roundup by IEAs are reportedly carrying their U.S. passports with them because more easily carried and more common forms of photo identification don't establish U.S. citizenship.

But a passport is too big to fit into a wallet, may easily be overlooked and forgotten when changing clothing, and can too readily get lost or damaged if carried in a pocket.

Moreover, a physical passport could be seized by an IEA agent and not returned, warns public interest law professor John Banzhaf, a former security officer and security consultant.

To avoid the very serious problems - such as lengthy detention - which might occur if you lose or forget your passport, or if you have nothing with you to authenticate your citizenship if stopped by an IEA agent, Banzhaf suggests that you store an image of our U.S. passport on your cellphone.

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Better yet, he says, would be to also store an image of your passport on your smart watch; just in case your cell phone is inadvertently left behind (e.g. while jogging) or gets lost, becomes broken (e.g. falling to the ground while running or during a struggle), or has a rundown battery.

The easiest way to always be able to prove your citizenship would be to take a picture of your passport with your cellphone's built-in camera, and then store it as a "Favorite" photo.

Once this is done, you can display a photo of your passport on your cell phone by simply clicking on "Favorites" in the "Photo" app.  In addition, if you set it up properly in the "Watch" app on your cellphone under "Photos," you can also display the photo on your smart watch by going to the watch's "Photos" app and clicking on "Favorites."

While these instructions were written with  iPhones and Apple watches in mind, those with other cell phones or smart watches should be able to find instructions on the Internet for similarly storing an image of a passport on a cell phone and/or a smart watch.

It also costs nothing and can be done in minutes, which is why the professor urges everyone who might think they are vulnerable to take these simple no-cost steps to protect themselves.

http://banzhaf.net/ jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com @profbanzhaf