A local resident's partner lost his wallet somewhere between the Yerba Buena area and the Trader Joe's on 4th Street this past weekend. Inside: his permanent resident card, work permit, and several bank cards. By the time he realized the wallet was gone, someone had already tried to run one of the cards at the Target on Mission Street.

Let that sink in. The turnaround time between "wallet hits the ground" and "criminal goes shopping" in downtown SF is apparently measured in minutes.

As one SF resident put it bluntly: "If someone used the debit card, they already sold the green card and work permit." That's not paranoia — that's experience talking. Stolen identity documents have real black-market value, and in a city where property crime enforcement remains a running joke, the incentives for wallet thieves are excellent.

But this story goes beyond the usual frustration of canceling cards and filing police reports. A lost or stolen green card in today's immigration enforcement climate is a genuinely dangerous situation. Without proof of permanent residency on hand, an encounter with federal authorities could spiral fast. The bureaucratic replacement process — filing an I-90, making a USCIS appointment, getting a passport stamp as interim proof — is expensive, slow, and stressful. One local noted a friend went through the process last year and "it took forever."

So what's the takeaway? First, if you found a wallet in the Yerba Buena or SoMa area this weekend, do the decent thing and turn it in. Check with Trader Joe's on 4th or Yerba Buena Gardens.

Second, and more broadly: this is what happens when a city functionally decriminalizes theft. It's not just about a lost credit card. It's about someone's legal status, their ability to work, their safety. When we shrug at petty crime, the consequences aren't petty for the victims.

San Francisco can do better. Whether it actually will is another question entirely.