I was recently on one of the MTA’s new Select Stop buses, where you purchase your ticket at a kiosk before boarding the bus then board the bus without showing anyone your ticket receipt, and if an official boards the bus, you show them your receipt with the date and time.

In many ways, the purchasing of the ticket is on the honor system. Most people know MTA personnel and police officers will not have time to check individual tickets at each and every stop. Therefore, for those who pay the fare, they have done their duty and contributed to the economic agreement expected of them. In political science terms, these individuals are not free riders nor have they contributed to the tragedy of the commons (overusing a collective good without paying ones fair share). However, for those who do not pay their fare, they are not contributing to the greater good, but they are also taking the risk of being caught and ultimately paying an extremely exorbitant fine. In theory, that is how the system works. However, my recent experiences on the SELECT STOP bus show a more complicated portrait.
While riding the bus, we made a regular traffic stop and MTA officials entered the bus requesting to see passenger tickets. As I tried to show the official my ticket receipt, it was quite clear he was not interested in seeing my receipt, nor was he interested in viewing the receipts of any of the white or Black passengers on the bus. He immediately went to the Latino men sitting next to me. When they could not produce a receipt, they were escorted off the bus to the waiting police officers. When they could not produce identification for the officers, they were loaded into the waiting police van. This has now happened on three different occasions while riding the Select bus. Is skipping a $2.75 fare now a punishment in which the NYPD should be involved? Is skipping a fare a crime that could ruin the life of an individual and their families for years to come?
Yes, the MTA needs people to pay their fares. Yes, we must act collectively to keep the buses running. However, seeing men, more specifically, only Latino men, handcuffed in the middle of an afternoon for skipping a fare is not an effective use of time or resources for the NYPD. Riding the bus should not serve as a de facto immigration border check. If someone is risking their future to ride the bus “for free,” we might want to consider some of the other constraints this particular individual is facing. $2.75 is an obscene amount to pay for a single ride. Maybe we should ask our representatives to speak up for our undocumented brothers and sisters. When one group is surveilled unfairly and hyper-policed, we all are.

Christina Greer, Ph.D., is a tenured professor at Fordham University and the author of “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream.” You can find her on Twitter @Dr_CMGreer.