Chari...the laws they are talking about are for Mexicans...driving non-mexican registered vehicles.... I would check with Rosy (if you have insurance with her, or if not)...but I think he would just have to have the registration and a notarized document that he had permission to drive the vehicle.
I have been told that if the Mexican citizen can prove he/she lives in the U.S. and shows a valid U.S. driver's license and valid Immigration documents showing legal residence in the States along with the owner's authorization to drive the vehicle, it would suffice. The law exists to cut down on the number of vehicles being driven down here without having been properly imported. There was a time when drivers weren't hassled so much in town and just had to worry about being pulled over on the highways or caught at the checkpoints. Right now, screening is tough on this and even around town Mexican citizens are being yanked for driving cars with U.S. plates. I've been called on to intervene for two people who opted to just let the vehicles go rather than pay the high fines to get them back. By the way, you can be made to pay the fines
and lose the car.
One case was an American citizen who didn't feel well so he sent his Mexican employee to Lukeville to get his mail. When the employee was coming back across the border, he was detained and the car impounded. The American had to pay the bail for his employee and a fine for the offense. He opted not to pay the added amount to get his truck back. Weeks later, Hacienda came knocking on the door with yet another amount due for the offense. The Mexican employee was told that if he didn't pay it, his home would be taken. The American paid that debt, too.
The other case was one in which an American couple had a little car and decided to simply give it to a hard-working Mexican family they'd known for years. The Mexican family knew they should legally import it, but never did. One day they got pulled over in town and the car was impounded. They paid about $1,500 dollars to avoid prosecution, but the car wasn't returned. It would've been returned to the Americans (after paying the impound fees), but the Americans were not available and either didn't want to add more money to the gift or make the additional trip down to take care of it.
In retrospect, it doesn't appear I was of much help to either of them, but at least they had an interpreter to explain the process and we were able to negotiate the fines down quite a bit from what was originally sought.
Chari, if Jerry is driving your Jeep, the notarized authorization should do it.
