Border crossing with children

Passports are required to re-enter the U.S. however we can not, if we believe that you are a U.S Citizen (USC), deny a USC entry back into the U.S. That being said, there are no fines or administrative punishments toward the traveler if they forget to bring a passport, and will ultimately be allowed to enter the U.S. As far as the children's parents they could sign a document stating that they allowed their children to travel with you. We look at the totality of the circumstances to determine if the kids belong or are there against their will, or do not know the people they are traveling with. You should not have any issues other than potentially being sent to secondary inspection, and have to wait for a while to be cleared. If you have time, I would get them a passport or passport card, if they are not planning on flying internationally anytime soon, a passport card is the cheapest and best option in my opinion. The main reason for a Passport is to establish citizenship, if we can establish your citizenship quickly by using an official passport you would avoid any annoyances of a secondary inspection for immigration purposes. You will if you are traveling in or with a camper most likely be sent in for Agriculture inspection, check out the "Know Before You Go" site, http://www.cbp.gov/travel/international-visitors/agricultural-items, this should direct you to the appropriate information regarding food. Hopefully this will help you guys have fun and minimize your potential problems in entering and exiting our fine country.