durham_lad

I would definitely carry your passport with you. We have been stopped a number of times near the Mexican border and always had our passport with us, never been a problem. This year while driving towards Phoenix from Houston on I-10 they had a pullout for all the I-10 traffic and we were simply asked if we were US Citizens, and when I replied yes I was expecting to have to show our passports as usual as I still have a strong Durham accent, but we were simply waved through.

Pulaski

Do many Mexicans/ Latin Americans have a Durham accent?

[Let's not pretend that those checkpoints are about anything other than illegal immigration from Latin America. ]

durham_lad

The one this year we went through was certainly just about illegal immigration as they had no drug sniffer dogs. The other 3 times we have been stopped we had our US passports examined by one agent while another took a dog for a walk around the car.

Of course I just assumed that they were drug sniffer dogs, they could be trained to sniff out people from Latin America hidden in the trunk

cautiousjon

What do you mean by this? If you mean carry it around everywhere I go, no, I don't do that. A California driving license has been sufficient ID for anywhere that I've needed to go within USA, including flying across the country.

durham_lad

I agree, even when we were on visas and then Green Cards I never carried more than a driving license even when we flew to Hawaii.

It is only near the Mexican border that you are likely to get stopped by border patrol. (Not sure about roads near Canada).

On the Big Bend National Park website you are told you should carry your passport as you will almost certainly be stopped.

cautiousjon

Ah, I see. Yes, that makes sense. I guess that I have never driven near enough to the border (except to visit the Las Americas outlet mall) in the past to have been stopped (and thus have reason to bring my passport).

scrubbedexpat099

That is your issue, look it up.

Steve_

There's no legal requirement to have any ID at all at a BP checkpoint, unless you're an LPR, in which case BP can issue you a ticket for up to $100 if you don't have your alien registration card on you.

My sister got pulled over on I-8 (eastbound) just after the BP checkpoint in Yuma and they searched her car and asked for ID but in fairness she was driving well over the speed limit. Not really a smart idea to go zipping past a bunch of Border Patrol agents at 90 mph.

They've never asked me for ID at any of the I-8 checkpoints, just a casual glance and they wave me through. I did get a bit of a grilling at a mobile checkpoint on I-15 near the Canadian border a few years back.

scrubbedexpat099

OP is not a USC , or LPR.

Steve_

You can encounter them anywhere within 100 miles of the border technically, as that is all part of the "expedited removal zone". They used to have mobile checkpoints but they seem to have largely given up on them as the GAO said they were a waste of money. Although a woman was famously tasered at one recently in New York, wasn't she?

Where they're a real pain in the ass is on the ferries in Washington and also buses that cross the border. Or the guy who wanders around the parking lot at Peace Arch park, assuming he's not asleep in his SUV.

Personally I don't think the Republicans will be happy until there are Border Patrol agents daisy-chained the entire length of the border. Behind a 50 foot tall fence. With a very large ditch behind it.

The Senate Homeland Security committee hearing on the US-Canadian border was absolutely frightening, the way they were all going on about the "threat" from Canada. Hearing Northern Border Threats | Video | C-SPAN.org

Have a look on youtube, all kinds of silliness, this appears to be the BP checkpoint in I-10 west of Las Cruces:



Bus inspection:

And many more...

Have a read of: The Department of Homeland Security: the largest police force nobody monitors | Marisa Franco & Paromita Shah | Opinion | The Guardian

Steerpike

I quite like I-10 - far better than I-5 in CA (it's all relative !). There's always a nice mountain range in the distance, and the sky can be gorgeous in the afternoon/early evening. I've done I-10 maybe 50 times, and I-8 just twice ... what I remember most is, going into San Diego after the long stretch through the desert was really amazing, passing through the foothills around San Diego. If you've never done it before, certainly do it once for the experience.

Gas is stupid-cheap in AZ, compared to CA.
The law says you had to carry your green card at all times; I had a GC for 20 years before I got my Citizenship, and never once carried it, and never needed it. So I don't think we need to struggle with the letter of the law here. Keeping it safe / not losing it is more important than complying with a law that is not enforced. Having said that, I would carry it on this particular trip.

scrubbedexpat099

OP does not have a GC.

Steerpike

I know. I was using GC as an analogy. He has a Passport; Law may say carry your passport at all times if you are ... blah blah. Got it?

scrubbedexpat099

May?

bc2015

On the other hand...

I was locked up because I went to a Texas national park without my papers | Lise Ragbir | Opinion | The Guardian