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

[ol_Bombero-JC]

Planning wrote:
Political?


To avoid "politics" while discussing the instant issue is like trying to avoid discussing water while treading and drinking it.

Pass on drinking the KoolAid!

:E

[Planning]

Political?

The very premise of national borders, internal and external security practices, and the travel liberties of citizens is nothing but political.

Politics and "political" is from the Greek "polis", the term used to describe the city-state and all of the issues that flow from the existence thereof.

To avoid "politics" while discussing the instant issue is like trying to avoid discussing water while treading and drinking it.

[JRscooby]

Crowe wrote:
I can't see where my point would be political, unless somebody was pretty defensive about standing on shaky ground.

If you can't see it then pointing it out is useless.

I do not see anything political about pointing out SA is not on the list. Now if I started to give reasons why I believe it is not, I would be talking of corruption, and the only defense that could be mounted would be political. And I bet a large percentage of both sides of the debate (that should not happen here) have ever looked at the list, but just assumed SA would be there.

[Crowe]

I can't see where my point would be political, unless somebody was pretty defensive about standing on shaky ground.

If you can't see it then pointing it out is useless.

[JRscooby]

Crowe wrote:
Please, all, let's not get political and get this thread shut down. It's an interesting "what would you do?" type scenario that many of us could potentially face that has nothing to do with politics.

I can't see where my point would be political, unless somebody was pretty defensive about standing on shaky ground.

JaxDad wrote:

I was in fact trying to make it totally apolitical by pointing out that the flag on the front of a persons passport no longer reflects the true situation as to the person or their background.

We in North America, even Europe, don’t understand the way things work in the Middle East. You can change nationalities there like we change underwear here.

For years it was the dirty little secret, if you want to put on a cloak of anonymity in the Middle East and cease to be a citizen of (insert country of ill-repute here) and travel freely all you had to do go to Saudi Arabia and get citizenship there.

Voila, you are now welcomed in places you would have formerly been scrutinized if not rejected in.

I confess, I did not know that about the Middle East. But, with my limited knowledge of recent history, I would think changing to SA should make it harder to get a visa, not easier.

[JaxDad]

JRscooby wrote:

JaxDad wrote:
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.

I don't understand what you mean. And likely I was not clear about what I was trying to say. My point is on 9-11-2001 17 out of 19 hijackers that attacked the US where from, or citizens of, Saudi Arabia. And most of the people accused of planing and financing the attack also where from, or citizens of, Saudi Arabia.

Crowe wrote:
Please, all, let's not get political and get this thread shut down. It's an interesting "what would you do?" type scenario that many of us could potentially face that has nothing to do with politics.

I was in fact trying to make it totally apolitical by pointing out that the flag on the front of a persons passport no longer reflects the true situation as to the person or their background.

We in North America, even Europe, don’t understand the way things work in the Middle East. You can change nationalities there like we change underwear here.

For years it was the dirty little secret, if you want to put on a cloak of anonymity in the Middle East and cease to be a citizen of (insert country of ill-repute here) and travel freely all you had to do go to Saudi Arabia and get citizenship there.

Voila, you are now welcomed in places you would have formerly been scrutinized if not rejected in.

[ItsyRV]

garyhaupt wrote:
Then who was going to pay for THAT?

It would come out of DHS's budget. Normally they would notify State and request a replacement. With some agencies, you may have to pay State but file a reimbursement claim for the cost. Regardless, you ultimately would not have to pay for the replacement.

[lakeside013104]

JRscooby wrote:

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.

JR you are correct and bring up a valid point.

Lakeside

[vermilye]

ksg5000 wrote:
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.

The last time I entered Canada at the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, they had RVs pull into a separate parking area. After a 20 minute wait, one individual collected passports from 3 different vehicles, took them into the building to process, then came out 5 minutes later & returned them.

A mistake would be fairly easy...

[CFerguson]

Certainly a story I have never heard anything like before. Thanks for sharing and glad that all ended will.

[ford_truck_guy]

Gary,

Well done, In my eyes you acted like we all should have acted... A mistake was made, they corrected the mistake and hopefully will learn from that mistake.

It should be used a a teaching experience.

[garyhaupt]

For those that operate any kind of RV, you could/will encounter this scenario, where you are directed to any kind of secondary inspection. The kiosk agent retains all passports given over to them in the original interview. The agent that will do secondary, collects the passport pertaining to that particular vehicle. I have no idea what the process is for setting those passports aside while the kiosk agent continues to to work with other vehicles that are coming after you..remember, YOU have been pulled aside, other vehicle come thru after you and get passed thru.

Yes..I was really lucky that the person that received my passport was known to the Border people and that by his history, were confident he was coming back, same day. Apparently Oroville is a training centre, and that might have been an new agent getting oriented. I have been back in touch with original supervisor advising that I was not filing a complaint and that I was more than satisfied with how it was all handled. In the end...I lost nothing and had a very unusual experience.


Gary

[Crowe]

Please, all, let's not get political and get this thread shut down. It's an interesting "what would you do?" type scenario that many of us could potentially face that has nothing to do with politics.

[JRscooby]

JaxDad wrote:
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.

I don't understand what you mean. And likely I was not clear about what I was trying to say. My point is on 9-11-2001 17 out of 19 hijackers that attacked the US where from, or citizens of, Saudi Arabia. And most of the people accused of planing and financing the attack also where from, or citizens of, Saudi Arabia. Voters where promised a un-constitutional total ban on all Muslims entering the US. After court battles, it was agreed that citizens of a list of countries would be subject to extra scrutiny before they got a visa to visit the US. Now I'm just a dumb truck driver, but I would think the first country on the list would be the home country of the attackers. But it is not on the list.
In the past, it was thought The enemy of my enemy is my friend.. To even discuss the idea of sending troops to protect Saudi Arabia makes me wonder who SA is friend to, our country?