Driving on i-10

Hey all!

I’m driving back to CA tomorrow from TX and it looks like I may encounter some bad weather in northern NM and AZ on i-40. A friend suggested I detour through i-10 if I do encounter bad weather, but that’s a bit too close to the border for my comfort.

Do DACA recipients who live in those states drive there often? How likely am I to encounter immigration checkpoints and then to get stopped? I’m fairly white passing.

I’m so nervous especially because i’ll be alone!

You will definitely hit a Check Point in El Paso, TX. That is the only checkpoint I encountered when I drove from Houston to Los Angeles. You will need to bring your DACA card and Driver License. It would be wise to bring your Deferred Action letter from USCIS —of course, this advice is under the assumption you are a DACA holder otherwise, I would not venture or even attempt to drive on I-10 on route to California and just drive North (perhaps wait for the weather to improve)

My 2 cents!

Thank you for the response!

Yes, I am a DACA recipient but actually have now misplaced my EAD card (and dont have access to the approval letter since that is at home in CA).

I am thinking that I would drive north until Albuquerque and then down to Las Cruces to get on the i-10 (in order to avoid El Paso checkpoint). Would Las Cruces - Los Angeles be checkpoint free? And in the event I get stopped by CBF for any reason, would my CA license suffice, especially since they could look up that my DACA is indeed valid?

I don’t think Las Cruces would be checkpoint free based on a “check point” map found in Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit...or_checkpoints

I would say anything past Las Cruces would be checkpoint free. The article mentions that immigrants must carry documentation (by federal law). So you may be detained until they figure out and find you in the system and who knows how long that takes. My sister got stopped once in Miami airport on her way back to Houston because she did not have her DACA Card (the TSA agent originally questioned the ‘Limited Term’ on her DL and she explained because she is DACA. Nonetheless immigration showed up and held her for like 3 hours until they found her in the system.

Whatever you decide, be cautious and safe travels!!

From what I've heard El-Paso for sure will have a checkpoint...I mean hell, my lawyer had told me to make sure my plane doesn't even stop there because they have the right to even walk in the plane and ask for papers the way they do on buses even if you're not getting off.

Of course, he told me this AFTER I had already once stopped in El Paso without knowing that they would stop by there and I would have been shitting myself had I known.

From San Antonio onward you should be fine.

A few years ago me and my friend drove from Houston to Los Angeles and when we got to the checkpoints outside of El Paso he quickly told the officers we were both citizens (a lie since I have DACA) thankfully the officers didn’t question and let us pass. I’m no longer friends with that idiot.

Obviously I would’ve said I have DACA, and I had my DACA card but sometimes you get lucky. Just don’t look nervous and tell the truth, having DACA isn’t a crime.

Yeah idiots like that have no idea how just one lie could destroy your life.