How many times have you been handcuffed by the Border Patrol?

moore_rb

moore_rb

Stay Thirsty My Friends
Saturday the 2nd marked my 3rd (yes, THIRD) visit to the little retaining cell at the Sonoyta crossing station...

But, I'm getting ahead of myself- all of this happened literally 10 minutes after we had managed to sweet talk our way out of a bogus radar ticket in Sonoyta (the cop said I was doing 74Kph in a 40 zone- he was smoking crack- I had a 6000 pound boat behind me in seriously heavy traffic- there was no way. I don't think he expected me to push back, because after that he basically handed me back my driver's license and said have a nice night)

Now, fast forward ten minutes to the border crossing.

I mean, seriously. My name is extremely common, so I can't really gripe when a name- match comes up with some other Robert Moore who pulled some serious criminal crap, but I have filed every peice of paperwork with DHS that I can think of to make sure these guys know that I am not that particular Robert Moore...

The last time I was detained was Oct 2008, and I have had 4 issue-free crossings since then, but that was all moot Saturday night as I was yanked from my still running truck, cuffed, and stuffed in the retaining room while they ran my passport...

At least they didn't mess up my stuff- I figured that since they had me for 20 minutes that they would tear the truck and boat down as well... thankfully they didn't and we were back on the road home in less than half an hour.

Next time, I will cross the border wearing a T-shirt that says "I am not the Robert Moore you are looking for"...

Let's hope I don't make 4. This is one record I'm not interested in holding.
 
J

janetandclint

Guest
Wow, I am impressed. You certainly are taking this well. So sorry that this is happening to you. Do you think you can ever clear this up, so they leave you alone.
 
moore_rb

moore_rb

Stay Thirsty My Friends
Terry C said:
Would having your middle initial on everything help?
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Apparently not... I have my full middle name on everything, and it hasn't helped so far.

I filed a DHS trip report after the last time I was stopped in Oct 2008, and I did not get stopped for two years- perhaps the DHS trip expires after 2 years... I should check into that.

It's really just a little more than an annoyance- I know before they do that I'm not the guy they are looking for, so I just go through the motions with them, and be as cooperative as I can until they clear it up...
 
jerry

jerry

Guest
In the 80's a guy with my exact name was the biggest PCP dealer on the West coast and sort of looked like me if i had 5 or 6 bullet wounds/knife fight scars on my chest.Cops had me strip more than you could imagine...no tips.....
 
Stuart

Stuart

Aye carumba!!!
Staff member
Wow... sorry to hear that, Robert. Makes my 20 minutes in secondary Sun. morning seem like a cakewalk.

A guy I worked with a few years ago had the exact same problem. Every time he got stopped, off to jail he'd go. What made it worse is he was a real meek and humble "underdog" kind of a guy. Whoever his doppelganger was had done some seriously bad stuff! He filed with DPS as you have a few times; don't know if he ever got it resolved.

Consider changing your name? By the way, great to meet you this weekend!

And next time, leave your father at home!!! (the exceedingly strange and weird dude at the marina) Hahahahah!!
 
Mentiras y Traición

Mentiras y Traición

Sonoran Goddess
Well, at least it was on the right side of the border. The consulate told me and my sister that Rocky Point has some of the worst jails in Mexico!
 
Ladyjeeper

Ladyjeeper

Sonoran Goddess
Staff member
I had to go to the jail in PP once to try to get a guy out. He really deserved to be there but his girlfriend begged me. I would NEVER want to be on the other side of those bars! I was able to translate and they worked out a fine and he paid it and they never came back to PP. Just as well 'cause I told them they would be on their own since he couldn't behave...... ARGH!
 
surfcaster

surfcaster

Tom the Surfcaster
Sounds like a terror watch list issue. There is an appeal process of some sort that has worked for some people with name matches. I have a common name too but have been lucky so far. I salute your philosophical approach to this incredible affront to your dignity and peace of mind.
 
S

Smilin' Jack

Guest
This doesn't only happen to US citizens. I know of two Mexican citizens who have recently had their B1/B2 Laser Visas yanked at the border by BCP agents. One woman was with her 14 year old daughter. When the agent scanned her visa, he told her that she had a US Social Security number, in violation of the law, and he had to confiscate her visa. Subsequently, she and her daughter were handcuffed, and taken into custody for three hours. They were then released, but denied entry into the US. The daughter's visa was not lifted. This has to be some kind of error, and possibly a case of stolen identity. This woman is retired from the Mexican railroad, and has never worked in the US.

The second case involves a very honorable Mexican citizen very familiar to BCP personnel. While attempting to cross into the US, his visa was on the PULL list because of a name similarity to someone wanted by the federal government. He was told by the agent that even though he knew him, he had to pull his visa and deny him entry into the US.

These are very unfair incidents that require a far stretch of the imagination to be even remotely related to "national security". However, they do help make the border enforcement numbers look good for political purposes. These incidents are very unfortunate and unfair because of the difficulty and cost of the innocent individuals to correct the error and regain their laser visas.
 
moore_rb

moore_rb

Stay Thirsty My Friends
Roberto said:
Guilty until proven innocent in the USA !!??!
Click to expand...
You can thank GWB and the Patriot Act for that ....

For the record- I was not arrested. Never read my Miranda rights, and not charged with anything.

I was merely "Detained for questioning" - even though they never really asked me anything.

Why the handcuffs were necessary... I don't know. Perhaps they took my eye-rolling and "Oh my God, not again" response as a gesture of hostility... :)

The sooner this world comes to realize that borders are anachronistic vestiages of a by-gone era, and the sooner people realize that they are best off representing, supporting, and defending themselves, instead of depending on the state, the better off this world is going to be.

I may seriously move to Switzerland, where the Constitution was recently amended so that no Swiss Congress will ever be able to pass a law making it illegal for a swiss citizen to own any firearm.
 
Roberto

Roberto

Guest
I may seriously move to Switzerland, where the Constitution was recently amended so that no Swiss Congress will ever be able to pass a law making it illegal for a swiss citizen to own any firearm.

Too many tight asses over there!
 
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