US Border agent gave my passport to.....??

[garyhaupt]

For anyone that has border crossing concerns....Monday morning, crossing at Oroville, get the usual Agriculture inspection. Pull over to the left and wait for the agent.

Agent finally saunters over...holds up the passport and observes..."you don't look much like this anymore" as he gives me my passport. As I hand it back..`because that`s not mine`.

The agent in the kiosk had given my passport to another driver and they were long gone. Long story short...they knew the other driver and hoped he`d be back sometime in the day. I was released into the US and I overnighted up on the Similkameen. Got it back this morning at 9am.

Gary Haupt

[John_Joey]

WOW, you’re lucky you had the time and he came back. Might want to remind the agent of 9-11 and he’s still a cog in a big wheel.

[JaxDad]

To say someone is “from” ......... or they are “citizens of” ........ is nothing more than lubricant for the spin doctors.

As an example, there are a LOT of people who hold a Canadian passport which technically makes them “a Canadian”. Does that mean they were born here? Raised here? Are reflective of the rest of our society?

It means they went through a process and moved to a new country, nothing more.

[JRscooby]

lakeside013104 wrote:

Eric&Lisa wrote:

BobsYourUncle wrote:
I remember the days in the 70s when all we had to do is tell them we are going there for coffee!....

Times have changed. And I don't think for the better.

-Eric

The events on 9/11 have changed the way many things are done in this country.

Lakeside

Yes, and not just at the borders. But the "we will never forget" have lost out. Bad enough the home country of the people that attacked is not even on the list of countries for extra check
before they can get a visa, it is possible we will send troops to die for them.

[lakeside013104]

Eric&Lisa wrote:

BobsYourUncle wrote:
I remember the days in the 70s when all we had to do is tell them we are going there for coffee!....

Times have changed. And I don't think for the better.

-Eric

The events on 9/11 have changed the way many things are done in this country.

Lakeside

[Eric_Lisa]

BobsYourUncle wrote:
I remember the days in the 70s when all we had to do is tell them we are going there for coffee!....

I grew up in NW Washington. I remember many times crossing the border in a school bus for a field trip. At the most the border agent stepped on the bus and counted heads to make sure they matched the number of parental permission slips the driver had.

Heck, I even remember a number of the school teachers being border guards during the summer for supplemental income. Easy to do since they were already employed by the government.

Times have changed. And I don't think for the better.

-Eric

[ksg5000]

You were fortunate that you stayed closed to border and your passport was returned the next day. Otherwise it would likely been a PIA and cost you money to replace the passport.

[winniman]

ford truck guy wrote:

winniman wrote:
How would they get an extra passport. The previous guy left without asking for his passport back? Who does that? You are entering a foreign country, and you are going to leave the border without getting your passport back from the agent? Pretty strange set of circumstances involved here.

IF you read the post, the OP stated that they mistakenly switched the 2 passports.. his with another guys.. No extra passport.. Just a case of the border patrol making a mistake and the "other guy" not checking his passport before leaving..

Any time I have crossed the border, you are in a single file line up. You don't approach until the guy ahead of you leaves. This is why I was unclear how they had the other guys passport. I guess I missed where they had him into secondary inspection.

[ford_truck_guy]

winniman wrote:
How would they get an extra passport. The previous guy left without asking for his passport back? Who does that? You are entering a foreign country, and you are going to leave the border without getting your passport back from the agent? Pretty strange set of circumstances involved here.

IF you read the post, the OP stated that they mistakenly switched the 2 passports.. his with another guys.. No extra passport.. Just a case of the border patrol making a mistake and the "other guy" not checking his passport before leaving..

[naturist]

Glad it turned out ok for ya, Gary.

I guess that is just one more reminder to us all to PAY ATTENTION, eh?

[garyhaupt]

colliehauler wrote:
Mistakes happen, glad it was taken care of quickly. It could of been bad for both of you had you not noticed the mistake. Surprised the other guy didn't look at the passport when it was returned to him.

It would have been 'interesting' if he hadn't come back the same day, for sure. I was already IN, so it would have to have been reported as Lost or Stolen by next day. Then who was going to pay for THAT? And all the questions that would have come my way everytime I crossed.

And yes..if he had looked, but..he didn't.


Gary

[garyhaupt]

winniman wrote:
How would they get an extra passport. The previous guy left without asking for his passport back? Who does that? You are entering a foreign country, and you are going to leave the border without getting your passport back from the agent? Pretty strange set of circumstances involved here.

Maybe I wasn't clear. I wasn't entering...I was already IN....The other driver was given MY passport, in error, obviously.I could have stayed at the border...this happened at 10:30 am and I could have sat there for 12+hours. They released me to carry on into town and in a later phone call with the afternoon supervisor, I informed him that I was camping out..and where, but he didn't care...and that I would be back in the morning.


Gary

[garyhaupt]

Crowe wrote:
This is why I have both a passport and a passport card. The card is not usable for international air travel but can serve as interim proof of citizenship should the passport be lost or stolen.

I doubt the guard did anything nefarious. Yes, it should be reported to make sure procedure is being followed. If the guard commented "it doesn't look like you" than surely your pic doesn't look like the other guy either and most likely couldn't be used for any illegal activity.

The guard did nothing nefarious. It was simply an error and I didn't have to report it...the Supervisor was more than just a little upset.

Gary

[garyhaupt]

rhagfo wrote:
I am sorry, your passport should never leave your sight!!

When a driver is directed to a secondary examination, the passport is 'held' by BP agents until an agent is assigned to your vehicle. THAT agent returns the passport. Saying no is always an option. They will simply turn your around. And maybe not even that..they may take a particular interest in your and your vehicle.


Gary

[FlatBroke]

eubank wrote:
Happened to me once, too. Only my incident happened at Checkpoint Charlie reentering West Berlin after a visit to the bookstore in East Berlin, and the agents were toting machine guns. It was a bit uncomfortable, to put it mildly.
🙂
Lynn

You “win” this passport mixup. :W

[Crowe]

This is why I have both a passport and a passport card. The card is not usable for international air travel but can serve as interim proof of citizenship should the passport be lost or stolen.

I doubt the guard did anything nefarious. Yes, it should be reported to make sure procedure is being followed. If the guard commented "it doesn't look like you" than surely your pic doesn't look like the other guy either and most likely couldn't be used for any illegal activity.