YSK: How to document that you are a US citizen
https://www.usa.gov/prove-us-citizenship
The most common way to show that you are a US citizen is to show a passport. However, only about 50% of US citizens have a passport.
An alternative to a passport is a Certificate of Citizenship.
Certificates of Citizenship and Naturalization show proof that someone is a U.S. citizen. The website https://www.usa.gov/prove-us-citizenship shows how you can get or replace these documents.
Prove your citizenship: born in the U.S. with no birth certificate. If you were born in the U.S. and have no birth certificate, learn how to get documentation to prove you are a U.S. citizen.
Prove your citizenship: born outside the U.S. to a U.S. citizen parent. Prove your U.S. citizenship without a birth certificate if you were born outside the U.S. to a U.S. citizen.
I think only 50% of people have passports is because most people can’t afford to travel and a bunch of them that do just wanted to visit Canada or Mexico
Until 9/11 we could visit Canada and Mexico with a drivers license or birth certificate and 3/4 of the time only the driver has to show theirs and just vouch for the whole car.
We drove through southern Ontario probably 20 times in the more 80s alone.
Which is also why “self deport” is such a scam. Even were it moral to tell anyone to do that, how are they supposed to board a plane to go to another country without passport or visa?