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toneart
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Border Identity Mixups From Baja?
Below is a news article that appeared in Yahoo News. The incidents involve the U.S./Canadian border. My question is: How many of us experience this
kind of ID mix-up when returning from Baja, and how were you treated (by vehicle, air or sea)?I know that some of us trigger something that sends us
to secondary, but what about ID mix-up? If so, please report here.
Quote:
"NY woman questioned again and again over ID mix-up
By MICHAEL HILL, Associated Press Writer Michael Hill, Associated Press Writer Sat Jul 10, 3:49 pm ET
SARANAC LAKE, N.Y. – Sylvie Nelson's border crossings are anything but routine. Customs agents sometimes order her out of her car. Twice, they
handcuffed her in front of her young children. Once, agents swarmed her car and handcuffed her husband, too.
She tells them: It's not me you want, it's a man with the same birth date and a similar name. Agents always confirm that and let her go.
Then it happens again. And again.
"I can understand one missed identification," Nelson said. "But over and over and over again?"
Nelson, a 44-year-old white woman, keeps getting snared at the Canadian border because she apparently shares some key identifying information with a
black man, possibly from Georgia, who is in trouble with the law. While such cases of mistaken identity at border points and airports are not unique,
Nelson's case is unusual in that only some of her crossings set off an alarm and because federal officials have not fixed the problem after almost two
years.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials told The Associated Press they cannot discuss Nelson's case, and they have shared few details with her.
Still, it's clear from their correspondence with Nelson and her congressman that they acknowledge the problem, saying they have taken "positive steps"
to address it.
The nation's 4,000-mile boundary with Canada is tested regularly by people trying to smuggle cigarettes, drugs and illegal immigrants. In New York,
the drive-through crossings also are kept busy by steady streams of shoppers, tourists and people with personal ties to both countries, like Nelson.
Nelson was born in Canada, married an American and lives with him, her 6-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son in Saranac Lake, where she runs the
chamber of commerce. She became a U.S. citizen in 2008.
Nelson crosses the border several times a month to visit relatives, friends and her family's second home, using her Canadian passport to leave the
country and her U.S. passport to get back in.
Her U.S. passport first triggered an alarm in August 2008. Agents told her the mix-up would be corrected, and she crossed without incident many times
after that.
In December, she was ordered from her car and handcuffed as she came back from a Montreal shopping trip with her children. Nelson was mortified and
melted into tears but was soon told she was free to go.
It happened again in February at a different New York crossing. Agents surrounded her car and her husband also was handcuffed. Again, she was let go.
"They never apologize," Nelson said. "They basically tell you that they're doing their job for the better good of the world."
Nelson has struggled to get information from Homeland Security officials. They will not tell her who she is being confused with or why the problem
persists. She doesn't know why her passport triggers alarms some days but not others.
Much of what she knows comes from bits of information gleaned at her border stops or from U.S. Rep. Bill Owens, who has been trying to help her.
There is no indication Nelson is on the terror "watch list" that makes headlines when babies or politicians are mistakenly entered into the database.
She believes another agency's computerized index of criminal justice information may be at fault.
Nelson says the man appears to be wanted in DeKalb County, Georgia, though neither the county sheriff's office nor the Georgia Bureau of Investigation
came up with a match for a man with Nelson's birth date and last name.
Owens said he was told the problem endures because of a "technology issue."
Customs spokeswoman Joanne Ferreira said the agency cannot discuss individual cases for legal and enforcement reasons. Ferreira wrote in an e-mail to
the AP that "CBP strives to treat all travelers with respect and in a professional manner, while maintaining the focus of our mission to protect all
citizens and visitors."
A customs official told Owens in a May 19 letter that there were "positive steps" in Nelson's case. She triggered an alarm since then, though her last
two crossings were uneventful. Nelson now warns agents at the border about her problem before they scan her passport. She is no longer handcuffed.
"I think it's been reduced from embarrassing and nerve wracking to just frustrating," Owens said.
The head of New York's Champlain crossing gave Nelson his cell phone number so she can call before crossings so he can help. She refuses to call
ahead, reasoning that the government should be responsible for fixing its own problem.
"Right now, I'm frustrated," she said, "but the terrifying could be right around the corner. Who knows?" "
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DENNIS
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I know exactly how she feels. Whenever I go north through the border, they treat me just like I'm Osama Bin Ladin.
I'm really not. I don't even have a beard. 
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Timo1
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Happens to me every time I cross
My name is Tim Young
They have me crossed with a Tim Grady
I'm white....He's black
I have no record except an exonerated DUI 24 years ago in Riverside Ca.
This other guy is raising hell in Walker county Georgia
Has a record a mile long
The CBP guy that last interviewed me was about the politest customs guy
I have ever dealt with
This was in Tecate NB
I can't say the same for the customs guy at the Seattle airport
The Tecate guy explained to us about the mix ups and how frustrating
it is for them
He asked....Can you imagine how many Jose Rodriguezes we process daily ??
He also suggested I apply for a pardon at my expense for what the other guy is doing.....WTF ???
We have and will be traveling to Baja
Its too bad the biggest hurdle is crossing into the US...either direction
sold out and got out !!!
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Bajajorge
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From reading the posts it sounds as if the State of Georgia, USA has problems with their record keeping.
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Timo1
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Actually....all the trouble originated in Ca.
Then he moved to Georgia and continued his ways
This according to the guy at Tecate
sold out and got out !!!
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toneart
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The point is, according to the article, is that it is a technological glitch.
Well, human beings have to enter the data into the computers. The frustrating thing is, why can't human beings correct the entries?
My take is that the bully pulpit that is Homeland Security wishes that level of intimidation to keep us ALL in a constant state of fear. It is all
FEAR based, and that is the stuff that is currently motivating the majority of voters.
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BajaBlanca
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funny tidbit - once when we were crossing the border into sunny California, the border patrol agent asked for our passports. fine. Then he asked for
our car registration ???? So, Les asked "why do you need my car registration?"
The guy looked Les in the eye and said:
"I am the ONLY one who gets to ask questions here. "
I guess he was having a bad hair day but jeeeeeez louiiiiiiiiiise
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
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| Quote: | Originally posted by BajaBlanca
jeeeeeez louiiiiiiiiiise |
That was one of my mother's favorite sayings. That and, "God's Teeth!!!" I think Ernie Pyle coined that one during the war.
Anyway........if that's as bad as it got with the gate guard, you had a good day. 
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BajaBlanca
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Location: La Bocana, BCS
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I have never been pulled into secondary in all the times we have crossed...having said that, I will probably be jinxed from now on
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Bajahowodd
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9274
Registered: 12-15-2008
Location: Disneyland Adjacent and anywhere in Baja
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| Quote: | Originally posted by toneart
My take is that the bully pulpit that is Homeland Security wishes that level of intimidation to keep us ALL in a constant state of fear. It is all
FEAR based, and that is the stuff that is currently motivating the majority of voters. |
Guess it works, eh? The 9/11 disaster was incredibly horrific. But the Bush administration took full advantage of that situation, which lasts up to
today. I just have a major difficulty in trying to understand the dichotomy that is the nation with the largest military and defense in the world, in
numbers that far exceed the next ten nations combined, with the seeming cowered public who will vote for what they conceive as security, no matter
what freedoms may be compromised. Just don't get it.
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toneart
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Posts: 4901
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Bajahowodd
| Quote: | Originally posted by toneart
My take is that the bully pulpit that is Homeland Security wishes that level of intimidation to keep us ALL in a constant state of fear. It is all
FEAR based, and that is the stuff that is currently motivating the majority of voters. |
Guess it works, eh? The 9/11 disaster was incredibly horrific. But the Bush administration took full advantage of that situation, which lasts up to
today. I just have a major difficulty in trying to understand the dichotomy that is the nation with the largest military and defense in the world, in
numbers that far exceed the next ten nations combined, with the seeming cowered public who will vote for what they conceive as security, no matter
what freedoms may be compromised. Just don't get it. |
Answer to your last question: Lack of cognitive thinking skills; blinded by ideology; Fox News/Limbaugh/Murdoch Clear Channel media bias; Neocon dirty
tricks/lies manipulation repeated until accepted as truth (actually becomes subliminal); and....FEAR!
They consistently vote against their own self interests and yet think just the opposite. Fascism poses as a benevolent dictatorship. It promises to
relieve people from the responsibility of doing their own thinking.
"Fascism is a radical and authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to organize a nation according to corporatist perspectives,
values, and systems, including the political system and the economy." - Wikipedia
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Bob and Susan
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Posts: 8813
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Location: Mulege BCS on the BAY
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i'm on the list now...
everytime recently ... secondary
dog comes out...quick sniff...adios
who do you contact to get off it
anyone successful with something like this
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ELINVESTIG8R
Select Nomad
Posts: 15882
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Location: Southern California
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One or more in here need a tinfoil hat! 
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CaboRon
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Bajahowodd
I just have a major difficulty in trying to understand the dichotomy that is the nation with the largest military and defense in the world, in
numbers that far exceed the next ten nations combined,. |
China maintains the largest standing army on this planet
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Taco de Baja
Super Nomad
Posts: 1913
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Location: Behind the Orange Curtain, CA
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The only ID mix up I had was a border patrol agent in 1996, or 1997 who thought he was a doctor.... He reached into the car, put his fingers on my
wrist and asked if I always had high blood pressure! 
I responded that "No, I have low BP, and by the way you can't determine BP taking someone's PULSE."
Yep I got sent to secondary....
The fact that my friend and I had 10 days of beard growth, a truck full of camping gear, and surfboards, probably triggered his initial question more
than breaking his mother's heart in not becoming a doctor.
Truth generally lies in the coordination of antagonistic opinions
-Herbert Spencer
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wessongroup
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 21152
Registered: 8-9-2009
Location: Mission Viejo
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Mood: Suicide Hot line ... please hold
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| Quote: | Originally posted by toneart
| Quote: | Originally posted by Bajahowodd
| Quote: | Originally posted by toneart
My take is that the bully pulpit that is Homeland Security wishes that level of intimidation to keep us ALL in a constant state of fear. It is all
FEAR based, and that is the stuff that is currently motivating the majority of voters. |
Guess it works, eh? The 9/11 disaster was incredibly horrific. But the Bush administration took full advantage of that situation, which lasts up to
today. I just have a major difficulty in trying to understand the dichotomy that is the nation with the largest military and defense in the world, in
numbers that far exceed the next ten nations combined, with the seeming cowered public who will vote for what they conceive as security, no matter
what freedoms may be compromised. Just don't get it. |
Answer to your last question: Lack of cognitive thinking skills; blinded by ideology; Fox News/Limbaugh/Murdoch Clear Channel media bias; Neocon dirty
tricks/lies manipulation repeated until accepted as truth (actually becomes subliminal); and....FEAR!
They consistently vote against their own self interests and yet think just the opposite. Fascism poses as a benevolent dictatorship. It promises to
relieve people from the responsibility of doing their own thinking.
"Fascism is a radical and authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to organize a nation according to corporatist perspectives,
values, and systems, including the political system and the economy." - Wikipedia |
tone, see we are ... not to far apart once again...
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Tano
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Registered: 10-20-2009
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There is an old Chinese proverb that says, “Computers are too dumb to make mistakes on their own.”
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bajajazz
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Location: La Paz, BCS, Mexico
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I don't know if it would've changed the outcome, but I wonder what might have happened if the Axis powers had the advantage of the computer technology
that exists today? Surely, the Germans' ability to liquidate Jewish populations would've been enhanced, the ability of resistance groups to move
about Europe would've been enormously hindered and Stalin's NKVD would've had a field day fingering potential subversives.
The possibility (if not the fact) of governments' use of computerized dossiers to identify and control any individual or group who might be in
disagreement with the current party line is a scary factoid indeed, particularly if paranoid maniacs on the order of Hitler or Stalin were in charge
of the intelligence gathering. Come to think of it, J. Edgar Hoover fit that role rather well.
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toneart
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4901
Registered: 7-23-2006
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bajajazz
I don't know if it would've changed the outcome, but I wonder what might have happened if the Axis powers had the advantage of the computer technology
that exists today? Surely, the Germans' ability to liquidate Jewish populations would've been enhanced, the ability of resistance groups to move
about Europe would've been enormously hindered and Stalin's NKVD would've had a field day fingering potential subversives.
The possibility (if not the fact) of governments' use of computerized dossiers to identify and control any individual or group who might be in
disagreement with the current party line is a scary factoid indeed, particularly if paranoid maniacs on the order of Hitler or Stalin were in charge
of the intelligence gathering. Come to think of it, J. Edgar Hoover fit that role rather well. |
Yup! The old cliche' is "It can't happen here", is wrong. It can happen anywhere. The reference was The Holocaust, but it could apply to political
dissidents who espouse ideas the go counter to a Fascist government in office. It doesn't become an official policy overnight. It happens
incrementally, while the citizens are placated by disinformation in the media. Look out! They are gaining momentum and have the desire and intent. The
database is bulging with your and my information.
"First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me."
--Pastor Martin Niemöller
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tjBill
Senior Nomad
Posts: 516
Registered: 10-6-2007
Location: Tijuana
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I have who gets sent into secondary all the time.
He has the same name as a criminal who threatened a judge.
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