Your_papers,_please
Your papers, please
Expression associated with police state functionaries
"Your papers, please" (or "Papers, please") is an expression or trope associated with police state functionaries demanding identification from citizens during random stops or at checkpoints.[1] It is a cultural metaphor for life in a police state.[2][3]
The phrase was popularized as the first line in the classic 1942 movie Casablanca which depicted life in Vichy-controlled Casablanca during World War II. The film opens with a scene of police officers searching a hotel for refugees fleeing from Nazi-controlled territory. The first line of the film is spoken by a police officer to a civilian he stopped on the street: "May we see your papers, please?" The civilian produces a document, but a second police officer declares that it "expired three weeks ago" and begins to tell the civilian he is under arrest. The civilian attempts to flee the police but a gunshot is heard and the civilian falls to the ground.[4]