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Crossing from Mexico into the USA... Crossing from Mexico into the USA...
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Photo by Andy Miller, UK, Taking a rest, Jokulsarlon, Iceland

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  #1  
Old 18 Jun 2009
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Crossing from Mexico into the USA...
Hey,

I was just wondering if anyone here has had recent experiences crossing into the USA from Mexico. I'm starting to hear all sorts of stuff about customs officers taking your tires off, and confiscating your laptop...

We are two Canadians on our way back up from South America, and we've got a pretty well travelled looking truck. We'll likely be crossing into Yuma from Nogales.

I'm very interested in hearing about some experiences with this border!
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  #2  
Old 18 Jun 2009
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I crossed twice recently on a well-traveled bike and they took little to no interest. One of those times the border agent hardly looked at my passport, so intent was he on letting me know that I could have jumped the entire lineup, not just 98% of it. He suggested riding the sidewalk next time.

A certain proportion of people get hassled, just as always. I don't know that the unlucky ones can be predicted with any certainty, but the same rules as ever still apply: stay calm and relaxed, clean up truck and self before approaching, have documents ready, don't volunteer information, emphasize (if asked) your stable employment at home, etc. etc. etc. Oh, and choose your parents wisely: they are as suspicious as ever of dark skin, arabic features, any language that is not American English and so on.

They do have the right--as always--to strip your car, your laptop and your corporeal self right to the bone on any faint suspicion of anything illegal, so try not to give them any excuse.

There are a lot of new recruits in uniform, and some of them are neither the brightest nor the most grown up people I've ever met. I apologize on behalf of my government in all its misguided splendor.

Mark
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  #3  
Old 18 Jun 2009
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Last summer my family and I (two daughters ages 17 and 15 at the time) were coming back from Canada in our loaded 4x4. We always take the small border crossings since we hate to drive on highways. We came in thru Vermont.

The border guard asked us were we went and we told her we had gone to Jacques Cartier and did some camping. She then asked me how was the white water rafting, I told her I didn't know since we didn't have a raft or canoe. She then proceded to open the back door of my truck. I didn't know she could search my vehicle w/o asking but since I didn't have anything ilegal I didn't mind. She proceeded to open our cooler but there was only some water and a bit of ice (I knew we are not supposed to bring any vegetables/fruits etc into the country so I made sure we ate all our fruits before crossing.

She asked if we had any weapons and I told her we didn't and she said we could go.

I guess my point is if you don't have anything illegal in your vehicle you don't have to worry, but it would suck if they started taking apart your truck


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Old 18 Jun 2009
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You will be fine , just behave, wait your turn and answer the questions witjout any snarky remarks and allow the sniffer dog to do his work. They will have you pretty well scoped and if you are clean and have nothing to hide it will be obvious to the border folks. Came back thru Piedras Negras crossing this April and the half hour waiting in line of slow moving cars was the worst part. The actual INS inspection took nearly all of one minute .
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Old 18 Jun 2009
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I crossed at Ojinaga-Presido about three weeks ago and there was no delay. A quick look at the passport and "welcome home".

Tom
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Old 19 Jun 2009
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Hi Anya,

I would strongly suggest cleaning out that truck one more time (a Uruguay type clean-up!). Lay out the tarp, empty the thing and force Josh to get rid of all the extra crap that has been accumulated. Then just smile as you get to the border and everything should be fine.

I wish we would be there for the clean-up once again!
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Old 19 Jun 2009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by angryectangle View Post
Hey,

I was just wondering if anyone here has had recent experiences crossing into the USA from Mexico. I'm starting to hear all sorts of stuff about customs officers taking your tires off, and confiscating your laptop...

We are two Canadians on our way back up from South America, and we've got a pretty well travelled looking truck. We'll likely be crossing into Yuma from Nogales.

I'm very interested in hearing about some experiences with this border!
So you drove your LC all the way down to TDF? Can I just ask you how you crossed the Darien Gap? Did you ship the truck? Just curious.
Also, do you have a webpage with information on your LC setup? I was just wondering if ot's a diesel or gas engine.

I would like to do the same trip with my LR but at 10mpg I think I'll go broke before I even make it to Mexico.

Thanks and good luck!!!
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Old 8 Jul 2009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian and Marie View Post
I would strongly suggest cleaning out that truck one more time (a Uruguay type clean-up!)
I figured the border agents would just do it for me

Yep we took snowy down to TDF, she IS diesel (25mpg with a tail wind!), she IS ancient, and she crossed the gap in cargo ships twice - first time RORO (puerto caldera-manta), second time container (cartagena-colon). RORO was less hassle, but stuff went missing as expected.

Our website is Wanderinglost - Josh and Anya's overland adventure across North and South America in a Land Cruiser ...I don't know if it contains anything that could be mistaken for useful information.
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