For fellow Americans living in cities where ICE is active, many people, especially those of Hispanic descent, are already carrying around passports on their persons at all times because they’re rightfully afraid of being forcibly disappeared or deported to some random South American country.
A passport card can be obtained for $30 from the Department of State. It is considered exactly equivalent to a passport within the US, but it’s the size of a credit card. It is a valid travel document for land and sea travel within North America and the Caribbean. It also counts as a Real ID. The card is good for ten years.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/card.html
Do not do this if you are transgender or have an X gender marker. They will cancel your passport and tell you to apply for a new one with your sex assigned at birth.
Set aside for a moment that ICE has a habit of thinking IDs are fake, I really wonder if this is a point where it might be worth prioritizing. If it’s increasing the likelihood of being deported, kidnapped, tortured, or similar, than I think there’s a legitimate question of whether dealing with the gender dysphoria is worse than that. I’m not saying it necessarily isn’t, that may be different from person to person, but it’s definitely something that should be considered carefully.
Of course, the safest option is probably trying to get the hell out of the US, but I’m not going to get into that can of worms.
For most people it’s not about gender dysphoria. It’s about discrimination. If you appear to be male but your id shows female, you have been immediately identified as being trans which is a very dangerous thing in America right now
I fully realize that. My point is that a blanket “everyone should do X” is the wrong approach here, since everyone’s situation is different, and the overall situation has severely changed (and continues to change).
Though I get what you’re saying, someone who had their sex changed on their passport has already decided dealing with the gender dysphoria has priority. It’s not like it’s a quick decision (contrary to popular republican belief), and it’s never been easy to be trans in the society so every trans person will consider if coming out as trans is worth it. A lot of those who do feel it’s either that or death.
I’m already assuming that if someone has had that changed, in all likelihood they spent a long time thinking about it. My point is the basis of that decision has changed, things have gotten much more dangerous for trans people, which can change the equation. There will be plenty of people for whom the gender dysphoria has a higher priority, and that’s not a problem. My point is that a blanket statement isn’t quite the best idea here, everyone has to weigh the risks for themselves, and that will be different for every person.