In Los Angeles county there are twenty cities issuing red light camera tickets. Combined, they issue over 100,000 tickets per year. The tickets are filed in the Superior Court, as an infraction, like any other traffic ticket. The fine is about $500.

Because of the steep fine, many people ignore the tickets. And most of them get away with doing so - no license or registration hold - because the LA County Superior Court has adopted a policy that if a red light camera ticket is completely ignored (the motorist does not contact the court at all), the Court does not report the ticket to the DMV, and the Court does not issue a warrant.

But the tickets remain in the Court files.

I have seen a warning, published by a member of the public, that persons with permanent resident status who are planning to apply for citizenship should not ignore their red light camera tickets from LA County cities, because the outstanding ticket in the Court files will affect their application for citizenship.

Does anyone here have first hand knowledge of a case where that has occurred?