Undocumented riding on plane? - Page 12

How is everyone doing? the last time i had been on a plane was 1999 and i was 11 years old and hadn't since recently we learn that you can fly with a valid passport in my case i only have the Mexican Passport with no visa but not expired, this is the passport you get from the Mexican Consulate, so we decided to go plan a trip to Miami this past August 2012.

Only me, my sister and my dad has this identification, valid Mexican passport and no visa, we live in Denver so we were flying out of Denver International Airport with American Airlines, we check in the Electronic System, and told us to check our bags, we show up to the front desk of AA and the guy ask us for identification, we gave him our passports, he didn't ask anything or went through any pages just check for the names and print out tickets.

Next, TSA, it was early morning not a whole lot of people, i had my passport in hand, walk to the TSA agent, hand it over, he look at me, look at my ticket, put the passport on like magnificent glass and a blacklight and gave it to me, no talk, no flipping pages and when on to security, took my belt off, my shoes, my ipod put them on the basket along with a backpack with magazines, when in the scanner no problem pick up my stuff, put on my shoes and off to the terminal. Same thing for the three of us.

When to the AA gate wait for our plane to start boarding, they call you by groups all they need is to see your boarding pass, no need to show id, and you are on to the plane, i was relieved, but i was nervous because we still had to land in Miami International Airport, flight was smooth.

In Miami International Airport we landed, got off the plane, walk thru the tunnel and into the terminal to pick up our luggage, no problem, no one looking at us weird.

Coming back, my sister party to much and lost the passport and had no form of id whatsoever, but before i get to her, same thing for me and my dad check in with AA, walk to TSA, when to security and into boarding the plane, the airport was pretty busy since everyone was trying to leave before the Issac tropical storm hit.

So my sister lost her passport, call TSA and they said that she need it a police report that said that her passport had been lost, she had nothing to show her id since she had lost her wallet, she when to the police, file a report she only got a case number on the officer's card because the person that prints the report don't work weekends so all she had was the officer's card with the police report number and a Mexican Consulate paper showing or saying she had a valid Mexican Passport and Matricula ID.

Here is what happen, me and my dad pass security but she was stop because the TSA agent said he had to call the supervisor to approved if she can go ahead and travel, the supervisor came, saw the card, the Mexican Consulate paper and got an application or some form told her to add her name, address, ssn (she don't have one) the supervisor got on the phone, and told her what's your name? address? and ssn, so she answer the first two right away and she said "no i don't have a ssn" the TSA agent was shocked and said "NO! and why you traveling?" she said am here on vacations, got back on the phone whoever was on the line he told them she didn't have an ssn, and than ask what are the streets near your house? she answered, and as i was just thinking god don't let ICE show up and i look back at her she was on the line going thought security, she had been allowed to fly.

Since we escape the Tropical Storm we had to go to Dallas/Fort Worth Airport and connect from there on a flight to Denver, i was worried again! We landed in Texas, same thing, got off plane, walk the tunnel althought i didn't see it my sister said that it divided two ways one domestic arrivals and another international arrivals but honestly i don't remember seeing that, no TSA screening since we were inside the Terminal, got on the train to our next gate, check in, no problems for me, my sister or my dad,

Our plane took off landed in Denver, walk to the train and to the Terminal, pick up our luggage, catch a cab and we were safe back home.


another story short, a friend that when to Seattle, WA like six times same id and had no problem here in Denver or Seattle, his passport was so bad because he had wash it on the laundry machine, i swear is true, so last time he was in Seattle, he did get stop, the TSA employee said "i need a supervisor to approved that you can board with this passport because is damage" one agent came he said i need another agent with more authority to approved it, so that guy came and he said no i can't i need a higher supervisor so he came and he did look at it front and back and to all pages he said "it's okay but make sure to replace it is too damage" i seen it i always make fun of it, he now replaced it.

Last one, i gotta be honest i only seen this guy a friend of my sister a few times and she told me that he has flight from Denver to new york (JFK) many times without any problems using his Guatemalan Passport and no visa.

My dad had also flown to Chicago from Denver about two weeks before our trip to Miami, this was Roundtrip.

Those are the experiences plus mine that i can say something could of gone wrong but didn't, thank god.i do believe in god and maybe was a miracle that my sister pass TSA but again they are not immigration agents only security airport i think that they just don't care about your status as long as you can prove who you are.


Am going to Ontario, California in October, i will be leaving Denver to Ontario International Airport, as long i can prove who i am i should have no problems.

if you have questions please ask, first reply on this forum, i had just register.

Let me be honest... what you have detailed is pure luck, they could have detained your sister, especially at Miami International Airport, since it is considered an entry point they have the presence of immigration officials. They are the types of airports you want to avoid when flying if you must avoid any kind of airports.

Your friend was also very fortunate since a damaged airport is no longer considered valid and they could have denied him entry.

But having any lack of ID would have been enough to deny anyone from passing through security or to be questioned more and in private, specially since she mentioned that she did not have a SSN and was from another country, they could have brought in ICE, who are present at MIA since it is an entry point to question her.

Recall the story of the Harvard student that try to fly out of an airport using his mexican matricula and almost got deported, that could have very realistically been the scenario that your sister could have faced, if that takes place and you cannot get a government issued identification document, the best bet is to avoid travel.

In any case, there are probably other threads where this story could have been posted, but thanks for sharing your experience.

I want to take the same trip but from Wichita Kansas to Miami, is Miami airport strict?? Do you have to show everything again in Dallas?

I have a California driver's license and I fly with no problems but I don't know if I would have a problem to go to Puerto Rico and back, although it is part of US now.

The only place I wouldn't dare to go is Arizona because I am afraid they would recognize an accent when I spoke or just by reading my last name they would racial profile me. They could check my driver's license and discover that, although it is valid, the I-94 that I used when I applied for the DL is expired and they would ask me about it. I usually can do well under pressure but I am not a good liar.

When I was in Miami I didn't see anyone being harassed. In the airport here in LA I saw some people showing their passport and I didn't see TSA checking for a visa. It's not their job anyways. Just watch out for the guys wearing green..

Flew from Laguardia to LAX and back in 2011, then JFK to LAX and back in 2012. All I had was my passport with no visa (EWI in 85'), a college ID and a printed copy of the memorandum DHS announced in 2011 about not deporting undocumented students and those who are low priority. No problems at all.

Edit: make sure passport is not not expired

Evrytime I take a plane to somewhere within USA. I alway take my Washington state ID and never have problem. I was never stop or question like some of you guys here. Just to be safe take more than one form of ID card you can just in case you lose the passport of state ID.