Bartenders acting as Customs agents

In addition to being gouged for overpriced tickets, both legal and illegal immigrants will have to prove that they have a valid US Customs stamp on their passports in order to purchase an alcoholic beverage at two Boston concert venues.

Boston Globe writer Maria Sacchetti reported that bartenders at both the Orpheum and Bank of America Pavilion are acting as self-imposed customs agents and refusing to serve alcohol to any foreigner lacking a current U.S. Customs stamp on their passport.

All the 33-year-old illegal immigrant wanted was a beer. After nearly a decade in this country, the Irish national knew to steer clear of police and federal agents. But he was stunned this month when a bartender at the Orpheum refused to serve him because his passport lacked a US Customs stamp so the man grabbed his passport and fled, abandoning a $60 orchestra seat at a Ray Davies concert.

According to Sachetti, the concessionaire handling alcohol sales for both the Orpheum and B of A Pavilion is now checking for US customs stamps if patrons present passports as ID.

Officials at the Boston Culinary Group said they started checking for customs stamps last year to ensure that passports are authentic, not to enforce immigration law.

Civil Libertarians, immigrant groups, and others say the policy is flawed because the customs stamp is not an accurate gauge of determining whether or not someone is legally entitled to be in the U.S.

In general, travelers to the United States arriving by air must have a customs stamp in their passport, said Ted Woo, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection. But Canadians and Mexicans don't necessarily have the stamps, because passports won't be required for them to enter the country by land until 2009. Neither do legal immigrants who renewed their passports in the United States.

The policy at the two Boston venues is likely to have the most impact on illegal immigrants, who are ineligible for a driver's license or other government identification. The Pew Hispanic Center estimated in 2006 that 150,000 to 250,000 immigrants in Massachusetts are here illegally.

The man denied service, told  Sachetti, that although he lacks a Green Card, he has paid taxes for the past 10 years and has never been in any trouble with the law. He was incredulous that the bartenders and Live Nation, the concert promoter, would treat him like this:

"I said, 'Who are you, immigration?" the man, a construction worker who spoke on a condition of anonymity because he fears deportation, said he asked the bartender. "It was a shock."

The BCG/Live Nation policy is so new that even a local liquor board official was unaware of it until asked to comment by the Globe.

Daniel F. Pokaski - chairman of Boston's Licensing Board, which issues alcohol licenses - said he had never heard of local bartenders checking for a customs stamp before serving a customer.

"I wouldn't recommend it if, in fact, it does have the side effect of denying illegal immigrants the right to have a cocktail," he said. "I just think you're really taking a class of people, and based on the lack of a customs stamp you're denying them service. I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with that."

A number of lawyers noted that although private establishments have some latitude regarding alcohol policies, this may be a violation of customer's civil rights.

"Asking a bartender to go above and beyond and check the federal government's stamp of approval and make a determination of whether it's valid is ridiculous," said Anjali Waikar, a lawyer with the ACLU of Massachusetts.

Officials from Live Nation vigorously defended the policy, noting that they had the support of a statewide association of restauarants.

The legality of the policy is questionable since passports are considered valid ID under both state and federal law.

State law lists a foreign passport from a US-recognized country as an acceptable identification to verify that someone is 21, the legal age to drink. Other acceptable identification include a Massachusetts driver's license, a military card, a US passport, or a state liquor card, which shows someone is of legal age to drink.

The law does not mention a customs stamp, which shows the date of admission to the United States. But state and city officials say the company can legally increase its requirements, as long as it does not discriminate based on race, ethnicity, or other protected classes.

An advocate for Irish immigrants called the policy foolish and counterproductive:

"I think they should focus their efforts more on determining how old people are," said Joanna Connolly, president of the Irish Immigration Center's board, who looked into the episode at the Orpheum after the center received a complaint from an immigrant.

"They shouldn't put their employees in the business of determining immigration status," said Connolly, a former assistant state attorney general. "That isn't their goal, but it's the effect."

BCG  started checking for customs stamps last fall to streamline the ID process becausebartenders were confused by the array of foreign passports,  company president Joseph Armstrong told the Globe. Company officials decided that the customs stamp was a common denominator that could verify that the passports are authentic, he added.

"We're in no way trying to be another policing arm for the immigration department," Armstrong said. "We're just trying to protect ourselves and the people we work for in terms of making sure that we get proper identification from people."

BCG/Live Nation instituted the policy to avoid costly lawsuits and to prevent underage drinking, but the policy may actually hurt their bottom line because that $10 watered down beer might just get you deported.

"If it has an occasional effect of someone who doesn't have the kind of identification that adheres to [the company's] standards is denied a beer then, well, so be it," said John Vlautin, spokesman for concert promoter Live Nation.

IMO, the policy is an extension of the draconian interpretation of state liquor laws at concerts and sporting events that prevent legal out of state patrons from consuming alcoholic beverages.

I don't go to as many concerts as I used to, but I attend five or six a year. One Massachusetts venue, the Tweeter Center (Mansfield, Mass.), will not serve anyone who does not have a valid Massachusetts drivers license. I have been asked, usually at least once a concert, to purchase a drink for individuals that were clearly well above the age of consent but were denied that right.

Given how outrageous the price of the drinks is anyway, the prospect of someone giving me a free drink for buying them one is appealing.

Other venues in Massachusetts are not nearly as strict about their liquor policies as the Orpheum. I am at the age where I seldom get asked for my ID anymore and I have never been carded at the Boston Garden or Fenway Park.

It seems fairly ridiculous to deny people clearly old enough to enjoy a drink because they lack a stupid stamp. The man, featured in the story, won't patronize those venues anymore as a result of the policy.

Now he says his concert-going days are over. "They can snub me; I can snub them," he said.