Has anyone been detained at the border before by the US govt. guys? What actually happens?

I just drove down from Los Angeles to TJ only to realize right before I hopped in the bus to cross the border that I had left my driver's license sitting at home. Not wanting to make a trip go to waste I inquired at the checkpoint crossing about the possibility of getting a temporary pass for the return trip. "No such thing" they told me. They did say if I didn't have valid ID such as a license or passport that I would be detained, but most likely released after a possible long detainment. They said it was risky but entirely up to me if I wanted to cross to Mexico and take the risk coming back. Anyone have any experience in this?

I didn't take the risk and drove home with a sad face the entire way .

A fraternity brother of mine was held over 12 hours. I only heard about this from other brothers so I'm not sure on the exact details, but I believe he was only released after someone got proof of identification from his house and drove it down to the border.

You may have done the right thing given the circumstances. At least you'll probably never forget again.

What can happen depends on many factors. The issue is that you never know ahead of time what will happen to you when you cross the border.

Driving across once I was sent to secondary and they tore my van apart. Literally. It is a cargo van, that has had paneling and carpet installed inside. They took every single panel off. To this day it has rattles it never had before.

As far as ID is concerned, it is your responsibilty to convince them that you are a US Citizen. A lot of how you get treated depends on your reactions, your look, and your attitude. And the mood of the agent you end up talking to.

A friend of mine recently walked across without ID. He explained that his wallet had been lifted while he was in TJ. They asked him half a dozen questions - where was he born, where did he live, what school he had gone to - and let him pass. Added maybe 5 minutes to his trip.

He looks about as lily white as a guy can look, BTW.

Another friend forgot his wallet, and figured it wasn't that big a deal Took him a couple of hours extra and required several phone calls before they let him pass. He also is as white as white can be.

A third friend lost his green card, and like the idiot he is went into TJ anyway. That ended up costing him a couple of hundred dollars for a temporary pass that was good for ONE time, and then several hours at the Federal building in San Diego. The actual crossing only took an extra hour or so. BTW, it is over 6 months and he still has not gotten his replacement green card!!

In answer to your question, yes, not much happens but I got lucky. I posted a while back about this but I am not too sure where.

I was going to stay at the Pueblo Amigo and I was meeting an amiga there who was flying in from Culiacan. She was gonna get there earlier than I was, so the Pueblo Amigo needed a fax of my drivers license and credit card. Well dumbass me left them in the copy machine. I didn't realize it until I already crossed into Mexico.

Where I got lucky is the Hotel still had my fax and I asked them for a copy of it. A few days later when I was heading back home (my car was parked on the usa side), I did the walk-in, showed them a copy of my license and was directed to secondary for walk-ins, which is to the right of the booths.

There were non-govt security guys who took my bag and went through that and set it on a shelf. I had a seat in some chairs that are set there, there must have been around 10 or so people waiting. Ten or 15 minutes later, my name was called.

Now I am talking to a customs agent. He asks me what happened. I explain my situation as I just did above. He asks me several questions about my general area of life. The agent I was in front of was not especially kind, but was not exeptionally cruel either.

After he determined I was the guy on the drivers license, they had me put my fingers in an scanner for fingerprints. He told me don't let it happen again, yadda, yadda. Then says go ahead.

And I can't remember exactly what they say, but it is kind of a funny comment that they yell out to the security guards who go through your bags. The comment either means send this guy back to Mexico or let him go ahead and cross in the USA.

About a month ago my TJ room was burglarized & my driver's license was taken. When I drove to the border crossing I had as much documentation as I could muster (my auto registration, 2-day mexican auto insurance papers, credit cards and the rest of my wallet that had been secured in my trunk the entire visit).

The border patrol agent asked me A LOT of questions. But the final exchange is what sold him.... He asked "what was the purpose of my visit?" And I replied "to spend time with the chicas" as I shrugged my shoulders & rolled my eyes.

I guess that lent enough consistency to my overall story and he waived me through.

Taxguyscot

He was probably a monger too!

I have read your reports and my hat off to you man! You are a true warrior of our "monger clan."

If I ever find myself single again in the future, I will move to SD and hit TJ every chance I get.

For a while last year I had a suspended drivers licence and lost my California ID. I was using my passport for ID. However a number of times my girlfriend wanted me to take her to TJ and I decided the risk of pulling out my passport in front of her in line, and having her curiously ask to see it was to great. There are some very incriminating visas and stamps in there. Fears of the girlfriend saying "I thought you said you were in Utah" prompted me to leave my passport at home and deliberately cross into TJ a number of times with no ID at all. Never was it a big deal at the border. I just told the border agent I forgot. Usually they did nothing or ask a bunch of extra questions but no big deal. Once I was sent to secondary where the secondary guy said "where were you born?" and sent me on my way. I am quite obviously American though. I imagine it would be different if you nationality is not so blatantly clear.

The only problem I can see you running into is one of the John Ashcroft wannabee Customs/BP types who like to play tough with everyone. Kinda like the guy a couple of weeks ago that kept bitching at white Americans about why they don't carry passports, how you need a passport to reenter, how after Jan 2006 if you don't have a passport you'll be turned away, etc.

I would say that in probably 50 crossings at San Ysidro, plus another 5-6 in Nuevo Laredo, 3-4 at Juarez, 7-8 at Nogie, a couple each at Agua Prieta , Renyosa and Matamoros, all those times, perhaps 20% of the time my drivers license was swiped to check for whatever they check for, 50% was just a quick look at my license and a few questions and 30% of the time they never even looked at the license, just a fast "what is your nationality" and off I go.

As a backup, I do carry my voter's registration card, since that used to be all you needed (along with photo ID) to travel to/from Canada. Whenever I go to Canada I take my passport, but Mexico? No way, with all of the street crime and light-fingered chicas and meseros. The day they start mandating passports for reentry from Mexico is the day I finally stop doing border runs when I'm in San Diego, Tucson and San Antonio.

I also had a friend that was detained until he could get his wife to drive down to the border with some additional identification. Fortunately for him, he had gone over on some service project for our church group. I don't think I would want my wife coming to rescue me at the border after one of my visits....

well, my decision to not cross without ID was due to several things crossing my mind at the time:

1) i just pictured the feds calling my friends and family to come verify my identity. since none of them know i go down to t.j. to monger (or for whatever reason), i thought it best not to have that situation arise.
2) i heard of a story of a guy in college who was asian (which i am also) and didn't have his i.d. and was detained for like 8 hrs. even though he had a heavy accent and i have absolutely none....i still didn't want to run into any trouble.
3) lastly, i get the "tough cop" attitude from the border guys about 40% of the time even when i have my i.d. or my passport...so i could only imagine it would have been 10x worse without one.

even though i'm severely disappointed in the time and gas money i spent in driving down to the border...i suppose i saved myself a lot of hassle.

I crossed the border on Feb. 19 and got harrassed by this border chick. I told her I am a US citizen and she started asking stupid questions like how I became a US citizen. Some tourist Japenese forgot their passport and got fine $250 bucks!! You should bring driver license and a copy of passport.

I got choke holded and robbed a year ago. My wallet with my Calif. ID card ($25) for going to TJ, and spare car key was stolen, but I left my Drivers License and car keys in my car on the US side.

After I explained what happened, the guard asked some extra questions and let me back into the US.

I still had the hassle of getting AAA to get my car door open.

Now I keep my Calif. ID card, car key and large bills separate from my wallet. I never take any credit cards.

"Now I keep my Calif. ID card, car key and large bills separate from my wallet. I never take any credit cards."

That's the only way to travel. Credit cards are completely unnessary in TJ.

Harry

I've crossed many times in Laredo and never had any problems. But I crossed one-time (first-time) in Nogales and I ran into a tough guy who started asking me a lot of questions. When I told him I was from Texas, he wanted to know what a guy from Texas was doing in Nogales...what a fucking idiot! He took my driver's license then pecked my information into a computer. The next night I crossed again, this time with some buddies. We all had been drinking and a bit drunk when we returned to the border...my buddies never pulled-out their IDs...they led the way slurring "I'm American"...we all got waived through. Of course, we all were caucasian and a bit drunk...I guess the border guards figured white drunk guys might make their night unpleasant and not amount to any big catch anyway.

Good idea to photocopy your passport. I also always keep only my driver's license in my wallet, with maybe $100 for drinks and food. But I will keep a second govt issued ID, ATM card, phone card, CCard and $300-$400 in my money belt (Wal-Mart $7.95).

I've actually had one Mexican kid try to lift my wallet as I paid to cross back into the States. Little bastard was probably just learning because I could feel more than one of his fingers in my back pocket...now I carry my wallet in my front pants pocket whenever I cross over.

AlecJamer

(Message edited by alecjamer on February 23, 2005)