Crossing the border (Nogales: inspection, shop, drivers license)

[steiconi]

Originally Posted by Greenvalleyfan

Never know, your face might wind up on a milk carton. I wouldn't do it. The Mexicans authorities at the very least try to extort all your cash to let you back in.

The Mexicans don't care about people leaving; I only have to satisfy the American border guard.

The Mexicans don't even seem to much care about who's coming in. When we went down last week, the gate was wide open; we tossed our backpacks on the xray machine, got them back quickly. Nobody asked for any kind of ID, I think they're just concerned about weapons.

As I recall, sometimes they screen people coming in, but not this time.

[Bondurant]

Originally Posted by Greenvalleyfan

Never know, your face might wind up on a milk carton. I wouldn't do it. The Mexicans authorities at the very least try to extort all your cash to let you back in.

Sure.

[tijlover]

Customs guards realize it's a 2-way street, at any Mexican border town. The Mexicans stimulate our economy, we stimulate theirs.

You may wonder why the Mexicans shop at our Wal-Marts on the other side of the border, even tho' they have Wal-Marts on their side of the Border, because ours are cheaper. Mexico has more strict import restrictions, that's why!

For curiosity, one last trip to Nogales, I took the taxi to the Nogales Mall, 5 miles south, and there's a big Wal-Mart there with underground parking. Next time there, go check it out, the prices and compare the prices to the Wal-Mart in Nogales, AZ.

[mlulu23]

Originally Posted by steiconi

Only four states offer enhanced licenses: Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont, plus Washington DC. a

As recently as 2018 I had an enhanced DL from Washington state. I assume they still offer it, but don't know for certain. I live in Oregon now, and sadly had to give it up.

[Adamson520]

Originally Posted by steiconi

Thanks

I have been researching online, so I'll share what I learned:
Only four states offer enhanced licenses: Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont, plus Washington DC. (I have licenses from AZ and HI, not good enough)

Washington state, not Washington DC.

[steiconi]

Originally Posted by Adamson520

Washington state, not Washington DC.

My mistake. The article said four states, so I assumed the fifth meant DC. When you assume...

[Angry-Koala]

Originally Posted by steiconi

Thanks

I have been researching online, so I'll share what I learned:
Only four states offer enhanced licenses: Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont, plus Washington DC. (I have licenses from AZ and HI, not good enough)

Must have been an old article. All 50 states have enhanced ID/driver's licenses available now:

https://www.dhs.gov/real-id/news/202...al-id-deadline

[steiconi]

Originally Posted by Angry-Koala

Must have been an old article. All 50 states have enhanced ID/driver's licenses available now:

https://www.dhs.gov/real-id/news/202...al-id-deadline

That's "Real ID," not the same as enhanced.

[Angry-Koala]

Originally Posted by steiconi

That's "Real ID," not the same as enhanced.

Oh man, you are right! My bad.

Washington State does offer an enhanced license that "Only works for re-entry into the United States at land and sea borders when traveling from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and the Caribbean" not that that helps your situation.

https://www.aclu-wa.org/sites/defaul...port_12_07.pdf

[Adamson520]

Went to Nogales MX yesterday for dental work. Just saying... if you want to go and not wait in lines to get back, this appears to be the time to do it. My dentist in Nogales said they got call after call first thing yesterday morning from Americans cancelling their appointments because it was "too cold" or they had after-xmas stuff to do. There were maybe only 30 people in the regular line to cross to the US, but I still used my SENTRI card to skip even that.