Competing government priorities

It must be very brave to come between Irish illegal immigrant drinkers and their booze, but two Boston clubs are doing just that.

The Orpheum and the Bank of America Pavilion are not serving drinkers who use passports as their ID that don't have a U.S. Customs and Immigration stamp proving that the customers are here legally.

The company that runs the concessions at the venues states that they are strict with their ID checks because the government is so adamant about their not serving underage drinkers, and to that end conducts endless spot checks and stings with young people with fake ID's. Therefore, the company insists that any identification be 100% compliant. Unintended consequences, indeed.

"For the 33-year-old illegal immigrant from Ireland, the episode at the Orpheum was another reminder of his precarious condition in the United States and its contradictions. He breaks the law by driving without a license and working illegally in construction." (Emphasis mine)

But he can't get a beer at the concert anymore, to his consternation and my amusement.

"But critics of the policy say that the stamp is no guarantee of validity and that checking for it is frightening to immigrants."

No, it's frightening to illegal immigrants, and rightly so.