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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65278
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Tell that border agent that the only negative part of a Baja vacation is the returning to the U.S. part! 
Crossed north at every crossing except Algodones, and like Tecate the best. Rarely get invited to secondary, but no big deal if we do... usually fast.
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Gypsy Jan
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4275
Registered: 1-27-2004
Member Is Offline
Mood: Depends on which way the wind is blowing
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J.P. Has Some Very Good Advice
But, we have occasionally been engaged by the Homeland Security officer in conversation that seems to be generated from some "Profiling for Dummies
101" workshop.
Usually it is low key, but one incident stands out in my mind.
One peckerwood straight from backwoods looked at our info, including the papers for the dog, looked inside, put his hand on his gun and said, "If your
dog barks at me, I will shoot him."
[Edited on 4-17-2011 by Gypsy Jan]
[Edited on 4-17-2011 by Gypsy Jan]
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness.”
—Mark Twain
\"La vida es dura, el corazon es puro, y cantamos hasta la madrugada.” (Life is hard, the heart is pure and we sing until dawn.)
—Kirsty MacColl, Mambo de la Luna
\"Alea iacta est.\"
—Julius Caesar
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BajaBlanca
Select Nomad
Posts: 13237
Registered: 10-28-2008
Location: La Bocana, BCS
Member Is Offline
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what a horrible thing to say.
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Gypsy Jan
"If your dog barks at me, I will shoot him."
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Considering you had a witness, I would have made an extremly big deal of this on the spot and after the fact. I still would.
This is baloney.
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Marc
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2802
Registered: 5-15-2010
Location: San Francisco & Palm Springs
Member Is Offline
Mood: Waiting
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| Quote: | Originally posted by BajaGringo
CBP = Customs & Border Protection |
I thought that the officers at border crossings were immigration officers, not Border Patrol?
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Gypsy Jan
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4275
Registered: 1-27-2004
Member Is Offline
Mood: Depends on which way the wind is blowing
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Hi, Dennis
How do you make a big deal in an confrontation with an As*** with a gun on the border?
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness.”
—Mark Twain
\"La vida es dura, el corazon es puro, y cantamos hasta la madrugada.” (Life is hard, the heart is pure and we sing until dawn.)
—Kirsty MacColl, Mambo de la Luna
\"Alea iacta est.\"
—Julius Caesar
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65278
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Marc
| Quote: | Originally posted by BajaGringo
CBP = Customs & Border Protection |
I thought that the officers at border crossings were immigration officers, not Border Patrol? |
Different divisions of CBP now... Things were changed after 9-11 and put under Homeland Security.
CBP.gov - home page
cbp.gov · Official site
U.S. Customs and Border Protection secures the homeland by preventing the illegal entry of people and goods while facilitating legitimate travel and
trade.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
CBP.gov - home page
Includes the former Border Patrol and Customs Service. Missions include detecting and preventing the illegal entry of persons and goods into the
country.
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GWBaines
Newbie
Posts: 11
Registered: 11-14-2007
Member Is Offline
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On my last return to the US through Otay, we had an unusual experience. Great chat with the first agent, but sent to 2ndary because of trailer. We
stopped in the shed but were told most contemptuously to move forward. Were let through the barrier to an enclosed area, after being yelled at by an
agent. After a wait the female agent asked what we had for food. Insisted that we should have a list of ALL food items on board. We tried to tell
her everything. We were made to get out. taking the dog way off to the side, then told to open all cabinets, outside doors, etc. Then told to stand
well away from the rig. Two agents went through the inside, they found 3 shriveled apples down in the bottom of a kitchen drawer. The female agent
came out with the apples triumphantly, and announced we were to be fined, for the old apples. They left suddenly without looking in the outside
cabinets or trailer, about an hour later, she returned to ask how we would like to pay the fine. She left again and returned a hour later, to conduct
me to the office. She announced on the way that she was giving us a break and only fining us $175, when she could have gotten us for $300! I said
nothing, because it was obvious that she did not want to hear from me. Secondary took over 2 and a half hours. I am 69 years old, and have never had
problems before and have been to Mexico every year for more that 30 years.
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Woooosh
Banned
Posts: 5240
Registered: 1-28-2007
Location: Rosarito Beach
Member Is Offline
Mood: Luminescent Waves at Rosarito Beach
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I had an interesting gate conversation while crossing at the San Ysidro POE last week:
Q: Where are you headed?
A: To San Diego. We have a Doctor appointment
Q: Were you getting treatment in Tijuana?
A: No, we have residences on both sides of the border.
Q: You do know they steal your organs at the medical centers in Tijuana?
A: Huh?
Q: You go in with two kidneys and they keep one to sell. It is a huge industry and they make a lot of money.
A: Really?
Q: Yes, You do know you have two kidneys right?
A: Yes, we know we have two kidneys and we still have both of ours. Luckily we have health insurance in the USA so we are keeping our kidneys, but
thank you for the warning.
Q: You're welcome, have a nice day (and he handed our passports back).
[Edited on 4-18-2011 by Woooosh]
\"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing\"
1961- JFK to Canadian parliament (Edmund Burke)
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BajaBlanca
Select Nomad
Posts: 13237
Registered: 10-28-2008
Location: La Bocana, BCS
Member Is Offline
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toneart
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4901
Registered: 7-23-2006
Member Is Offline
Mood: Skeptical
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You are getting the Police State that you have been voting for. Quit your b-tching.
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Marc
I thought that the officers at border crossings were immigration officers, not Border Patrol? |
They'll do whatever it takes to pees you off. They wear the hat required at the moment.
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bajafam
Senior Nomad
Posts: 654
Registered: 9-6-2009
Location: Northeast AZ, Bahia Asuncion, BCS :)
Member Is Offline
Mood: DLTBGYD
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On our last cross back into the States, in Tecate, we had some of the same negativity from our lovely CBP. She asked where we had been ~ Bahia
Asuncion...where's that? And the requisite "Don't you know how dangerous it is to travel in Mexico?"
She then proceeded to tell us that we were putting our children in harm's way by bringing them there. You should have seen her face when she asked for
Tristan's identification and we handed her his MEXICAN passport. "Who's child is that?" Um, gee, the blonde boy sitting next to the blonde girl in the
car driven by the blonde man? OURS? She couldn't fathom why he would have been born in Mexico. Before she finally let us cross, she put in a few more
warnings of danger! DANGER! Haven't you seen the news lately? and the like. Not to mention she was attempting to make us feel like terrible parents ~
FOR SHAME you just spent 2 weeks on the beach! Petting whales!! Playing with other children!! But GASP!! they speak Spanish!!
Had it been in a different setting, I would have told her to shove her fear propaganda up her arse ~ we don't have any use for that. Please, spare
your fear tactics for someone else! I try not to let it get to me, as I do about the fear mongering here in the states, but when someone ventures as
far as to tell me in not so many words that I am a bad parent....Well, them's fightin' words!!
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bajafam
Senior Nomad
Posts: 654
Registered: 9-6-2009
Location: Northeast AZ, Bahia Asuncion, BCS :)
Member Is Offline
Mood: DLTBGYD
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and sorry toneart but no....if there is even the slightest hint in a candidate's agenda that denotes ANY prejudice, stereotype, etc. against
immigrants of ANY origin....they do NOT have my vote. Same goes for any bill, law or the like. I may live in AZ, but I do NOT support the devil that
has weaseled her way into top position...
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krafty
Super Nomad
Posts: 1052
Registered: 8-23-2010
Member Is Offline
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Walked across Otay yesterday with a friend-9 am and it took 1-1/2 hrs. they only had 2 officers working the gates-do they not know that on a Monday
morning there may be a line? They were pretty gruff as well. We felt like cattle.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65278
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bajafam
and sorry toneart but no....if there is even the slightest hint in a candidate's agenda that denotes ANY prejudice, stereotype, etc. against
immigrants of ANY origin....they do NOT have my vote. Same goes for any bill, law or the like. I may live in AZ, but I do NOT support the devil that
has weaseled her way into top position... |
Doesn't Mexico has stricter policies about foreignors than Arizona has, or tried to have?
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by krafty
-do they not know that on a Monday morning there may be a line? |
Do you not know by now that they don't care about your being inconvenienced? 
Really....everyone has to get beyond the silly idea that these are public servants.........and don't cross on Monday mornings.
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bajafam
Senior Nomad
Posts: 654
Registered: 9-6-2009
Location: Northeast AZ, Bahia Asuncion, BCS :)
Member Is Offline
Mood: DLTBGYD
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| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
| Quote: | Originally posted by bajafam
and sorry toneart but no....if there is even the slightest hint in a candidate's agenda that denotes ANY prejudice, stereotype, etc. against
immigrants of ANY origin....they do NOT have my vote. Same goes for any bill, law or the like. I may live in AZ, but I do NOT support the devil that
has weaseled her way into top position... |
Doesn't Mexico has stricter policies about foreignors than Arizona has, or tried to have? |
Certainly ~ foreignErs have to abide by the rules, as they should. However, I have noticed in my years of travel (albeit not as many years under my
belt as many Senior Nomads) that most travelers (nomads included) do not feel as though they should have to abide by such rules! They complain about
tourist cards, military checkpoints, laws regarding property ownership ~ as though they are "entitled" to just wander freely through a foreign country
and do as they please, and yet we demand that folks of other nationalities should abide by OUR rules and give in to OUR stereotypes and prejudices.
There is a double standard and I think that stinks. Yes, there should be rules and laws ~ don't be ridiculous! BUT, breeding fear about certain
nationalities and religions and deliberately making it more difficult for certain people to attain citizenship, etc. is what I have a problem with.
From personal experience, obtaining citizenship in Mexico (for Tristan at his birth) was like jumping through hoops of fire ~ but not because we were
Americans. Not ONCE did I feel like we were looked at as foreigners trying to pull a fast one (as sooooo many immigrants are made to feel). On the
contrary, all of the government employees we came in contact with during the process were welcoming and intrigued by it all. ALL of the employees
EXCEPT the ones (the Americans!!) at the US Consulate!
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Dave
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6005
Registered: 11-5-2002
Member Is Offline
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Interesting
| Quote: | | Originally posted by bajafam You should have seen her face when she asked for Tristan's identification and we handed her his MEXICAN
passport. |
Questions:
When applying for his U.S. citizenship are you gonna tell 'em?
Mexico requires dual citizens to enter and leave Mexico under Mexican citizenship. How's that gonna work?
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MaryJoC
Newbie
Posts: 1
Registered: 3-23-2011
Member Is Offline
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Hi, I'm new here have been lurking for awhile but never posted.
Presently I'm in Yuma. A couple of months ago I wanted to go into Algodones for meds and dental care but forgot my passpost. Had to go back the next
day. On the way back, I asked a Customs guy what would happen if I accidently forgot my passport when I went into MX. His exact words, "don't go into
Mexico." I never go into MX so I leave my passport at home.
I also happen to workout at a Yuma gym where alot of Border Patrol and Customs people workout. I didn't know this at the time I opened my big mouth
to another snowbird and related my above experience, also stating that Customs officials are unprofessional. A wife of a customs guy who was working
out (her husband also works out at this gym) overheard me. She told me what would happen if I forgot my passport, have to go through a secondary
checkout, etc. Anyway, now I get the cold shoulder from all of them and when I am in earshot of any two of them talking all I hear are negative
remarks about Mexico.
Also one of the Customs guys works out in his full Customs uniform, hats, hat and all.
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