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Thread: Crossing the border next Thursday, a little apprehensive.....

  1. #21
    Senior Member gimmethesimplelife's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dmc View Post
    i wonder if the NSA is monitoring him?
    I rather believe in this one isolated instance America actually is very democratic.....at least in the sense that we are BOTH vulnerable to the NSA. I can't pull the lower income/85006 card on this one - you at your loftier social class position are also vulnerable to the NSA. My take is that this is both insane and oddly enough, fair in a way, too. Fair because such intense governmental overreach should not be based upon social class - the only fair way to overreach is to make everyone vulnerable. Rob

  2. #22
    Senior Member gimmethesimplelife's Avatar
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    Well, here is an update. I am in Nogales, Mexico right now about to post this so I have not yet crossed and can not as of yet speak of this experience. However, on my way into Mexico, after my friends had parked on the US side and we all walked over, I saw something amazing on the way into Mexico and something that I personally very much approve of.

    It used to be for many years that to enter Nogales, you crossed a turnstille and interacted with no government officials to enter. It was just boom, cross this turnstille and there you were in Mexico. Last year Mexico started going through the luggage of some people based on pressing a button on a pseudo traffic light. If you got green, you proceeded into Mexico, no questions asked. If you got red, your bags were searched. This year, no pseudo traffic light and no green equals go or red equals baggage search. This year there is an xray machine after the turnstille and you have to put any bags on it to have them xrayed, but no passport check or questions. I think this is great as so much cash and guns go from the US to Mexico, whereas the opposite direction as we all know feature migrants and drugs getting across the border somehow.

    I believe this is a wise step for Mexico. Even I believe in the world we live in today that it is unwise to just let people cross a turnstille and let them in just that easily. What is even nicer is that Mexico, as of yet, does not take it too far as the US does, but who knows, maybe that day is coming. Update on my border crossing will come tomorrow once I get home to Phoenix. Rob

  3. #23
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    Be interesting to see your experience with real, not imagined entry and if you apologize for blowing things out of proportion.

  4. #24
    Senior Member bae's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gimmethesimplelife View Post
    I think this is great as so much cash and guns go from the US to Mexico, ...
    "So much" guns go from the US to Mexico? So, all those fully-automatic weapons, grenades, RPGs and such are being smuggled in from the US side? Mind you, such things aren't commonly-available for civilian ownership or sales, and when they are, special background checks must be passed, special and expensive licenses issued, and the weapons themselves are ferociously expensive.

    Whereas fully-automatic weapons sourced from countries *elsewhere*, countries Mexico does business with, are several orders of magnitude less expensive.

    Perhaps the Mexicans need some sort of trade consultants?

  5. #25
    Senior Member gimmethesimplelife's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ToomuchStuff View Post
    Be interesting to see your experience with real, not imagined entry and if you apologize for blowing things out of proportion.
    Apologize, not possible in this karma. While it is possible that I may emerge emerged unscathed from this experience, crossing my fingers, there are many documented cases of US CBP going too far and breaking the law via harrassment and excessive detainment with no access to communications devices, bathrooms, or food for their victims, much like any third world country that Americans might look down on. No can apologize.....I live in a zip code where too many have had nasty issues with US CBP while in the country completely legally. But I am of cource hoping for the best with this border crossing. I do have white skin so this much is on my side with the racist US CBP, and I do speak fluent English and I also dont intimidate for any government official. I do not escalate things, either, but I do not intimidate. Best is saying as litttle as possible and remembering everything wrong with this country and looking them right in the eye while remembering it. Rob

  6. #26
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    Tomorrow, I will be passing through the checkout line at the grocery store. So many dark thoughts fill my mind of the risks we take in this living Hell we call America. Will they reject my coupons? Is that clerk an undercover NSA asset monitoring my choice of cheese spread? Do tarantulas lurk in the bananas? Will I make the wrong call on "paper or plastic" and be savagely beaten or even murdered with impunity by unaccountable bag boys?

    If I don't make it, tell my wife I love her.

  7. #27
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LDAHL View Post
    Tomorrow, I will be passing through the checkout line at the grocery store. So many dark thoughts fill my mind of the risks we take in this living Hell we call America. Will they reject my coupons? Is that clerk an undercover NSA asset monitoring my choice of cheese spread? Do tarantulas lurk in the bananas? Will I make the wrong call on "paper or plastic" and be savagely beaten or even murdered with impunity by unaccountable bag boys?

    If I don't make it, tell my wife I love her.
    Haha!

    well, we can joke, but in these Trump times those checkout lanes are becoming daunting.They are collecting citizen information at an alarming rate. What is your email? What is your phone number? Do you have a rewards card? Do you want Notification of sales? Weekly? Dailey?

    and on and on. It is harassment meant to intimidate, I am convinced.

  8. #28
    Senior Member dmc's Avatar
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    Just remember that the cbp has more power than your local police. And that stretches to 100 miles from the border.

    so far I have had no problem. And sometimes I even fly less than a 100 miles from Cuba. I do need to purchase a new sticker in case I want to go to the Bahamas. They threaten Some of us small plane pilots with $10,000 fines if we don't follow all the rules correctly. I guess it's expensive if they have to send the fighters up. Otherwise, no big deal.

  9. #29
    Senior Member dmc's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by iris lilies View Post
    Haha!

    well, we can joke, but in these Trump times those checkout lanes are becoming daunting.They are collecting citizen information at an alarming rate. What is your email? What is your phone number? Do you have a rewards card? Do you want Notification of sales? Weekly? Dailey?

    and on and on. It is harassment meant to intimidate, I am convinced.
    We get asked for our zip codes also. They must be profiling us by our social class.

  10. #30
    Senior Member bae's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dmc View Post
    They threaten Some of us small plane pilots with $10,000 fines if we don't follow all the rules correctly. I guess it's expensive if they have to send the fighters up. Otherwise, no big deal.
    That's about the same ballpark that they hit private boats with if we screw up the border crossing. My neighbor simply forgot to call in when crossing at 2am on a dark and stormy night, even though he has all the fancy-schmancy pre-clearance stuff, and called bright and early the next morning. $15000 fine.

    As far as Rob smearing our CBP people with "racist", well, I work with these folks on a very frequent basis as they voluntarily, out of the goodness of their hearts, assist us with marine and air rescues for patients when the weather is bad here. They seem well trained, well equipped, very polite and helpful, and glad to be of service. I've seen them risk their lives to help others.

    I don't think much of his opinion, then again I don't give much weight to the opinions of people whose way of thinking is firmly rooted to their 8-year-old self.

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