US Border Patrol on the Lake Shore Limited

On my recent trip on #48, I stepped off the train at Buffalo during the short crew-change stop. When I got off, there stood four armed US Border Patrol officers. They asked everyone if they were US Citizens.

Then one (perhaps two) boarded the train - going through each car asking the same thing. I asked the car attendant about it and she told me that they do this all time - and in fact take people off the train frequently. She said they do it not just at Buffalo either.

I was surprised to see this, as I had not heard about it elsewhere. It struck me as a bit odd to be doing this on the LSL.

Lest we forget, the Lake Shore passes the length of three states contiguous to the Border - and there is no Iron Curtain.

Funny, but somehow when Winston Churchill coined that term, i don't think he had "quite in mind" the location of such today.

I noticed Border Patrol board the train at Rochester and Buffalo-Depew on my last ride.

-otto-

The Border Patrol, it seems, has authority quite a distance from the borders. Witness the highway inspection point north of San Diego on I-5, and, if I recall correctly, someplace north of Loredo. Even years ago, that meant extra attention to citizens who looked Mexican. I think a NY Times article a year or two ago explained that Greyhounds on the Buffalo-Albany run got inspected halfway across the state.

Velkom to the United States of Amerika! Papers please.

madcrow wrote:Velkom to the United States of Amerika! Papers please.

It's not new. I had to show my passport on a Greyhound near El Paso in 1963.

george matthews wrote:

madcrow wrote:Velkom to the United States of Amerika! Papers please.

It's not new. I had to show my passport on a Greyhound near El Paso in 1963.

Interesting. It would never occur to me to travel with my passport inside the US.

I'm not saying it makes our country "Amerika". But being asked to prove citizenship is something that most citizens would find quite surprising, and perhaps impossible to do on the spur of the moment.

ne plus ultra wrote:

george matthews wrote:

madcrow wrote:Velkom to the United States of Amerika! Papers please.

It's not new. I had to show my passport on a Greyhound near El Paso in 1963.

Interesting. It would never occur to me to travel with my passport inside the US.

I'm not saying it makes our country "Amerika". But being asked to prove citizenship is something that most citizens would find quite surprising, and perhaps impossible to do on the spur of the moment.

I would think a drivers license would do the trick, no need for a passport

hi55us wrote:I would think a drivers license would do the trick, no need for a passport

And for those of us who like the train because we don't have a license?

Also, 48 hits Buffalo at around 9 AM assuming it's running on time. It's at least conceivable that people are still asleep at that point and I'm pretty sure that getting asked for one's papers is NOT the most pleasant way to get woken up in the morning...

Mr. Madcrow, most if not all states DMV's issue a photo ID establishing your identity to the same extent as does a Driver's License but without granting licensure to operate a motor vehicle on public highways.

While I understand there are some driver's licenses out there that DO establish citizenship, I've never had one. All I have is a voter's card.

But failing that, everyone has a Birth Certificate, or if necessary, naturalization documents.

ne plus ultra wrote: Interesting. It would never occur to me to travel with my passport inside the US.

I'm not saying it makes our country "Amerika". But being asked to prove citizenship is something that most citizens would find quite surprising, and perhaps impossible to do on the spur of the moment.

Well, in Arizona you could be asked to do exactly that (we prove that you are legally in the US) if for some reason any random police person decides that you have the looks of an illegal. You don't even have to be within 100 miles of any border or anything. I tend to have my Passport available in close proximity of me whenever I travel anyway, so it is not any additional bother for me. I must admit that the only two countries where anyone has ever checked my papers at some random place is France (in the Paris inner suburb near Porte de Clingancourt) and Russia (at Kievskii Voxhall in Moscow). I have never been randomly checked in the US or even in Israel.

You don't need to be a citizen (in most states) to receive a driver's license.

"Everyone has a birth certificate," should read "Most people have birth certificates." I knew a person, born before 1910, who could had fifty years of difficulties because her mother would not tell her the name she gave when she gave birth. The mother told the daughter the wrong year of birth, and every surname she claimed she used turned up unrecorded. The daughter was unable prove her birth anytime it was asked.
-----
More recently, a friend, a 1950's veteran with discharge papers in his own name could not renew his driver's license because his birth certificate had a completely different name, and he had no adoption papers to prove his childhood change of name. The quest for Real ID is tough on a group of people. With today's out-of-wedlock birthrate and despite the requirement of assigning social security numbers to newborns, the problems may grow.

The critters who write the laws permitting these practices are mostly running for reelection this season. In my borough, only 273 voters out of the 1,350 who were registered bothered to do anything about it yesterday. What was the ratio among the members of this Group?
This is an official rant from an Inspector of Elections in Penndel Borough, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

bellstbarn wrote:The Border Patrol, it seems, has authority quite a distance from the borders. Witness the highway inspection point north of San Diego on I-5, and, if I recall correctly, someplace north of Loredo. Even years ago, that meant extra attention to citizens who looked Mexican. I think a NY Times article a year or two ago explained that Greyhounds on the Buffalo-Albany run got inspected halfway across the state.

Border control involves transportation modes that relate to crossing the border, including trains, tour busses, truck stops etc etc. INS takes over where border patrol stops, airports, marine terminals, bus depots such as PABT in midtown manhattan has both INS and USBP people.

- A