As I was just saying to Bill Mixon, we used to get our cars/trucks inspected all the time on our way back to CV from Cd Acuna. And we were about 5 miles inside the border at the time. Mostly they'd just flash their flashlights on the vehicle occupants and ask if we were all U.S. citizens. Of course, that was in a kinder, gentler era. Louise
From: lkpa...@sbcglobal.net To: gi...@att.net; texascavers@texascavers.com List-Post: texascavers@texascavers.com Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:21:35 -0500 Subject: RE: [Texascavers] Big-Brother related Was crossing in Charlie’s bus one time, and they decided to put it through the same line as the semi’s for full x-ray. I went to the agent and said something to the effect – Do you think we would take a bright orange school bus full of cavers and try to smuggle something? Do we really look that stupid? For whatever reason, he moved the bus to the front of the semi line – we had already been there forever. That was one of the few good experiences I have had at the US border. The ugly stories are more frequent, but not as amusing. From: bgillegi...@gmail.com [mailto:bgillegi...@gmail.com] On Behalf Of Gill Edigar Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 8:14 PM To: texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Big-Brother related On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 4:50 PM, Herman Miller <her...@cavechat.org> wrote: Upon returning to the United States the DHS has a huge amount of authority to search anything and everything in your pocession, literally anything they want to look at is open game. Herman is exactly right. ANY and every time you cross a border--ANY border--you essentially and voluntarily surrender any and all personal rights you may otherwise have. They can do anything to you and your stuff that they want and for an inconvenient amount of time--in the name of whatever completely off-the-wall and baseless Homeland Security law that the running-scared Congress may have passed or DHS may have promulgated and using any kind of profiling they adamantly deny. Without rules and regulations they wouldn't have a job. They don't have to make sense or have probable cause; the inspector could just be wanting to get a few jollies at your expense--and it would be perfectly legal. They can detain you. You pretty much have no civil rights and no defenses at that point--consider that a given and be satisfied with it. But the important thing to remember is that you have volunteered to this scrutiny by voluntarily crossing the border. If you don't like that situation don't cross any borders. --Ediger
