# U.S. citizen drives into Mexico without a passport, so what actually does happen... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 13, 2015, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-citizen-drives-into-mexico-without-a-passport-so-what-actually-does-happen/709684 "2015-01-13T05:55:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-citizen-drives-into-mexico-without-a-passport-so-what-actually-does-happen/709684/21 "2015-01-14T17:37:24Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I was amazed that such a thing was possible, but apparently it’s no big deal. A person can get in without any ID at all, if he or she can convince CBP. I know a guy who got robbed in Mexico, and came back with no wallet. Because his story was convincing, (as well as, of course, his answers to general questions about his employer, background, etc.), they let him in, after taking his finger prints and making him sign a bunch of documents. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-citizen-drives-into-mexico-without-a-passport-so-what-actually-does-happen/709684/22 "2015-01-14T17:55:49Z")
The last few times I drove to Canada on my (Canadian) passport, the _Canadian_ authorities asked to see my US Green Card. Of course in Canada, my green card status doesn’t mean anything, but they wanted to make sure I would be able to get back in when I went back. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-citizen-drives-into-mexico-without-a-passport-so-what-actually-does-happen/709684/23 "2015-01-14T22:08:12Z")
> [@Mdcastle](#): > > In general your own country can’t refuse to let you in. A few years ago someone posted about their daughter that was moving home from the UK and accidentally put her passport in one of the boxes that was sent home ahead of time. In practice you’re not likely to like the hassle this creates before you (eventually) get let in. That’s what I thought, but according to another thread - the fellow was born in USA, moved to Israel at age 1 and never owned a US passport - he was denied entry for a business trip because a US citizen cannot enter the USA on a foreign (i.e. Israeli) passport. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-citizen-drives-into-mexico-without-a-passport-so-what-actually-does-happen/709684/24 "2015-01-14T22:33:20Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > That’s what I thought, but according to another thread - the fellow was born in USA, moved to Israel at age 1 and never owned a US passport - he was denied entry for a business trip because a US citizen cannot enter the USA on a foreign (i.e. Israeli) passport. Sometimes people think they’re denied entry when they really aren’t. Choosing to voluntarily leave rather than sit in a jail cell for a couple of days while your lack of a passport is investigated is technically just a personal choice to leave, not denial of entry. ---
**Author:** ![abderian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@abderian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abderian)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-citizen-drives-into-mexico-without-a-passport-so-what-actually-does-happen/709684/25 "2015-01-14T23:46:28Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > That’s what I thought, but according to another thread - the fellow was born in USA, moved to Israel at age 1 and never owned a US passport - he was denied entry for a business trip because a US citizen cannot enter the USA on a foreign (i.e. Israeli) passport. > [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Sometimes people think they’re denied entry when they really aren’t. Choosing to voluntarily leave rather than sit in a jail cell for a couple of days while your lack of a passport is investigated is technically just a personal choice to leave, not denial of entry. On the other hand, there’s this: > **[8 U.S. Code § 1185 - Travel control of citizens and aliens](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1185#b)** 8 U.S. Code § 1185 (b) Citizens Except as otherwise provided by the President and subject to such limitations and exceptions as the President may authorize and prescribe, it shall be unlawful for any citizen of the United States to depart from or enter, or attempt to depart from or enter, the United States unless he bears a valid United States passport. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-citizen-drives-into-mexico-without-a-passport-so-what-actually-does-happen/709684/26 "2015-01-15T01:11:03Z")
> [@abderian](#): > > On the other hand, there’s this: > > [8 U.S. Code § 1185 - Travel control of citizens and aliens | U.S. Code | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute](http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1185#b) > > 8 U.S. Code § 1185 > > (b) Citizens > Except as otherwise provided by the President and subject to such limitations and exceptions as the President may authorize and prescribe, it shall be unlawful for any citizen of the United States to depart from or enter, or attempt to depart from or enter, the United States unless he bears a valid United States passport. So when I drove down to the US to renew my passport, mailed my old one to the passport authority, and then left the US for Canada without a valid United States passport, I was breaking the law? I was once given a huge hassle trying to enter the US from Canada by air back in the days when you didn’t have to have a passport. I was about 16. My mother was travelling with me. I was a US citizen, she was a Canadian citizen with no legal status in the US. They hassled me hugely, asked her if she’d heard what they said to me, and then waved her through. Ah, pre-9/11 international travel! (Edit: and although I was a minor, there were no questions asked about my father or his awareness of our cross-border travels.) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-citizen-drives-into-mexico-without-a-passport-so-what-actually-does-happen/709684/27 "2015-01-15T04:25:46Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > That’s what I thought, but according to another thread - the fellow was born in USA, moved to Israel at age 1 and never owned a US passport - he was denied entry for a business trip because a US citizen cannot enter the USA on a foreign (i.e. Israeli) passport. > [@abderian](#): > > On the other hand, there’s this: > > [8 U.S. Code § 1185 - Travel control of citizens and aliens | U.S. Code | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute](http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1185#b) > > 8 U.S. Code § 1185 > > (b) Citizens > Except as otherwise provided by the President and subject to such limitations and exceptions as the President may authorize and prescribe, it shall be unlawful for any citizen of the United States to depart from or enter, or attempt to depart from or enter, the United States unless he bears a valid United States passport. And ultimately, it’s going to be left to the border guard on the scene. Many years ago, my American-born, Canadian-by-naturalization ex-wife found herself on a business trip to Vancouver BC. Not planning on being in Vancouver for more than three or four business days, all she had in terms of documentation, was her Canadian passport, which she always kept in her purse. The business trip had to go on longer than planned, however; and with a weekend at her disposal, she thought she might go to visit her sister in Seattle. She drove down in her rental car, and presented her Canadian passport at the border. The US guard, seeing her place of birth was the US, gave her a stern lecture on how she really needed her US passport to enter the US–and it was stern; she said that all that was missing was the Stars and Stripes waving, while a bald eagle sheds a tear, all to the strains of “America the Beautiful” playing in the background. But in the end, her let her in. Anecdotal only, but it does help add credence to the “it’s ultimately up to the border guard at the scene” theory. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-citizen-drives-into-mexico-without-a-passport-so-what-actually-does-happen/709684.md?page=1)