Domestic travel
 

Hey Guys,

So I'm DACA and live in Nevada. My mom is not legal (EWI) and only has a passport she renews at consulate in NYC every 4-5 years, that she uses as ID. She wants to visit by plane with my brother that's USC. Last time I flew with my passport I didn't have any issues but that was during Obama era. I know it's just a domestic flight but how sure can I be that she'll be fine? Should I risk buying her a ticket to come? Shes never flown anywhere since her last entry in 97 but now since I moved here she wants to come and doesn't want to wait until I visit NYC. I'm just not sure.

Any suggestions?

Re: Domestic travel
 

Ooh that's a tough one. I'm assuming the passport is valid? I've seen people fly with passports before and I've never seen the TSA guys look through the passport for a visa or anything - just that the name/photo match the ticket & person. TSA's not border patrol, but you never know.

Re: Domestic travel
 

She will most likely be ok. TSA assumes you’ve cleared a port of entry.

Funny story, I had a TSA lady ask if my State issued ID was fake. I fly frequently found the question odd. I thought maybe she hadn’t seen a NC DACA license. I simply said “No ma’am.” She let me through without any other question. Her only comment was my ID was a bit off-color in the scanner. Should give you an idea of how cautious they are.

In the pre daca days I would show my passport and they wouldn’t even look at the visa pages. My family have all flown in the last two years (EWI) with just passports.

Re: Domestic travel
 

I had the same question. My mom wanted to fly from Chicago to Denver.

In reality they are supposed to accept a foreign passport. However there is always that one "Patriot" that will try to abuse his authority and ask.

Re: Domestic travel
 

TSA shouldn't care about your legal status. All they are supposed to check is if your name matches the ID. If it doesn't, they'll just deny you entry to the departure area. I doubt they'll report you to the border agents (different from TSA, the ones that stamp your passport if you arrived internationally).

I have flown with my passport many times and they have never gone past the first page.

Re: Domestic travel
 

Thank you all for the replies!

Re: Domestic travel
 

Please let us know if she was fine.

Also, it is important to know that some airports along the border do check the status of anyone who boards a plane.

I forget which one in Texas does.

Re: Domestic travel
 

Jose Vargas was detained @ McAllen airport about 4 years ago. Not sure we've had another high-profile story like it since to be honest.

Side Note: I will start flying with my passport as my primary ID from now on so I'll always have something current to say.

Re: Domestic travel
 

I believe that is exclusive to that airport and then another airport in Florida. Not sure if Orlando or Miami.

I believe other airports are more or less safe. Those two I think they exiplicitly check for status.

Re: Domestic travel
 

You might be right on that, I fly often but it’s often between the same 2-3 airports. Raleigh-Durham and Boston Logan mainly. The incident with my license happened in my home airport funny enough (Raleigh).

I’ve also gone through Louis Armstrong and Miami in the past few months. Shame I didn’t think to try using my passport as my primary form of ID then.

But for all intents and purposes you should generally be ok... within the last year my parents have flown between Raleigh and Philly, Chicago, and Seattle.

I’ve also taken Amtrak several times between Boston and and DC (overnight), and Raleigh and DC without a hitch but Amtrak and Greyhound especially are dangerous business near the border is my understanding. I only ever took the bus once and vowed never again because of the horrible conditions at the station transfer location and the god awful delays.