I want to read the exact law re: returning from Mexico by foot. Where is it?

[Undertaker]

Thanks for the information, all you ever want to know, right here on little Bibe chat. With all the change since 911 being abreast of the Law can't hurt. 

[Alto Relex]

I stand corrected.  Here's the full law including the penalties (how does up to $15,000 in fines and up to a year in federal prison strike you?).  So the tourist was correct.  Learn something new every day...

TITLE 19 - CUSTOMS DUTIES
CHAPTER 4 - TARIFF ACT OF 1930
SUBTITLE III - ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS
Part II - Report, Entry, and Unlading of Vessels and Vehicles

Sec. 1459. Reporting requirements for individuals

STATUTE:

(a) Individuals arriving other than by conveyance
Except as otherwise authorized by the Secretary, individuals
arriving in the United States other than by vessel, vehicle, or
aircraft shall -
    (1) enter the United States only at a border crossing point
designated by the Secretary; and

    (2) immediately -

      (A) report the arrival, and

      (B) present themselves, and all articles accompanying them
for inspection;
to the customs officer at the customs facility designated for
that crossing point.

(b) Individuals arriving by reported conveyance
Except as otherwise authorized by the Secretary, passengers and
crew members aboard a conveyance the arrival in the United States
of which was made or reported in accordance with section 1433 or
1644 of this title or section 1644a(b)(1) or (c)(1) of this title,
or in accordance with applicable regulations, shall remain aboard
the conveyance until authorized to depart the conveyance by the
appropriate customs officer. Upon departing the conveyance, the
passengers and crew members shall immediately report to the
designated customs facility with all articles accompanying them.

(c) Individuals arriving by unreported conveyance
Except as otherwise authorized by the Secretary, individuals
aboard a conveyance the arrival in the United States of which was
not made or reported in accordance with the laws or regulations
referred to in subsection (b) of this section shall immediately
notify a customs officer and report their arrival, together with
appropriate information concerning the conveyance on or in which
they arrived, and present their property for customs examination
and inspection.

(d) Departure from designated customs facilities
Except as otherwise authorized by the Secretary, any person
required to report to a designated customs facility under
subsection (a), (b), or (c) of this section may not depart that
facility until authorized to do so by the appropriate customs
officer.

(e) Unlawful acts
It is unlawful -

    (1) to fail to comply with subsection (a), (b), or (c) of this
section;

    (2) to present any forged, altered, or false document or paper
to a customs officer under subsection (a), (b), or (c) of this
section without revealing the facts;

    (3) to violate subsection (d) of this section; or

    (4) to fail to comply with, or violate, any regulation
prescribed to carry out subsection (a), (b), (c), or (d) of this
section.

(f) Civil penalty
Any individual who violates any provision of subsection (e) of
this section is liable for a civil penalty of $5,000 for the first
violation, and $10,000 for each subsequent violation.

(g) Criminal penalty
In addition to being liable for a civil penalty under subsection

(f) of this section, any individual who intentionally violates any
provision of subsection (e) of this section is, upon conviction,
liable for a fine of not more than $5,000, or imprisonment for not
more than 1 year, or both.

[SHANEA]

all that needs to be done is setup a little self service checkpoint at La Linda, Boquillias, Santa Elena, San Vicente, and whatever the name of the town is on the other side of Lajitas (besides Mimi's Miracle Ranch).   Sign in when you cross over and sign out when you get back.  Put a webcam there too.  Must have a valid passport to cross.  Unattended checkpoint.  DHS/CBP can periodically check in and do random checks of people crossing and coming back.  This is much like the way of doing a river permit for the Rio Grande.  (It used to be a self completed / turned in form) - it is now a back country permit.  Ok, make a permit for crossing over into Mexico - available at any NPS station or TPWD locations Warnock, Fort Leaton, etc.

There is some kind of a self permit registration, the way I understand it, for the boundary waters up in Canada.  Some place with a phone that you "check in". 

Don't like that idea?  Ok, take some of the extra manpower that has been given to DHS/CBP and establish manned posts. 

[SHANEA]

Thanks for all the info and research Alto Relex   

I don't think I'll be troubling DHS/CBP by crossing over and coming back.  Momma didn't raise a fool.

Now, about that million BIBEr march on Boquillias.... 

[Undertaker]

Just had one more question, what's the law on aiding criminal activity ie: illegal entry to this country, or did I miss reading it due to lack of coffee??

[Casa Grande]

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/ts_search.pl?title=19&sec=1459

19 USC 1459

Section 1459. Reporting requirements for individuals

 (a) Individuals arriving other than by conveyance
 Except as otherwise authorized by the Secretary, individuals
 arriving in the United States other than by vessel, vehicle, or
 aircraft shall -
   (1) enter the United States only at a border crossing point
   designated by the Secretary; and
   (2) immediately -
     (A) report the arrival, and
     (B) present themselves, and all articles accompanying them
     for inspection;

 to the customs officer at the customs facility designated for
 that crossing point.

So, take your own row boat to Boquillas....problem solved.  Thanks for clarifying, BorderDog!

[Alto Relex]

Here's the provision on helping people who enter illegally.   Note "aiding and abetting" the movement or hiding of an alien within the US, in reckless disregard of fact that such person has entered the US illegally, is a criminal act.  It would be hard for the government to show that a one-time act of giving a fellow human being some water in the desert is "aiding or abetting" their movement.  On the other hand setting up an "Agua Gratis Por Todos" stand in the middle of the desert, that's another matter...

Sec. 274. [8 U.S.C. 1324]


(a) Criminal Penalties.-



(1) (A) Any person who-


(i) knowing that a person is an alien, brings to or attempts to bring to the United States in any manner whatsoever such person at a place other than a designated port of entry or place other than as designated by the Commissioner, regardless of whether such alien has received prior official authorization to come to, enter, or reside in the United States and regardless of any future official action which may be taken with respect to such alien;



(ii) knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, transports, or moves or attempts to transport or move such alien within the United States by means of transportation or otherwise, in furtherance of such violation of law;



(iii) knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation;



(iv) encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of law, shall be punished as provided in subparagraph (B); or



(v) 1/ (I) engages in any conspiracy to commit any of the preceding acts, or



(II) aids or abets the commission of any of the preceding acts,


(B) A person who violates subparagraph (A) shall, for each alien in respect to whom such a violation occurs-



(i) in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(i) or (v)(I) 2/ or in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(ii), (iii), or (iv) in which the offense was done for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain, 3/ be fined under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both;



(ii) in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(ii), (iii), (iv), or (v)(II), 4/ be fined under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both;



(iii) in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), or (v) 5/ during and in relation to which the person causes serious bodily injury (as defined in section 1365 of title 18, United States Code) to, or places in jeopardy the life of, any person, be fined under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both; and



(iv) in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), or (v) resulting in the death of any person, be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined under title 18, United States Code, or both.


 

[Lorax]

At the Castolon Visitors Center we were told that the border closing of May 2002 was not a new law but simply enforcement of a law already on the books.  Along with an overnight River Permit, a Customs Declarations Sheet is handed out.  This Declaration would be sent to the Port of Entry at Presidio, TX. if it was necessary.  (Not a lot to purchase on a river trip through Big bend???)

The law would be existing law and not a new Homeland Security statute.

[SHANEA]

I believe, and I stand to be corrected, but there used to be, prior to 9/11, various "classes" of Check Point Charlie stations and that crossing at Big Bend was a class "B" or something like that station - basically an unmanned station.  Yes, the laws were not enforced also - especially at Lajitas where there used to be a restaurant, reported to be very good, on the Mexican side of the river.  Of course, workers of Lajitas commonly crossed back and forth - and there was also the Candelaria bridge crossing that was "unenforced". 

[presidio]

Of course, workers of Lajitas commonly crossed back and forth - and there was also the Candelaria bridge crossing that was "unenforced". 

Perhaps 'unattended' would better describe it. The remote west TX crossings were never a significant source of illegal immigration, certainly nothing occurring then or leading up to the draconian measures of today rose to the level requiring the insults we now endure.

FEAR, it's a new way of life, get used to it. The Dept of Homeland Subjugation (motto: 'working tirelessly to deprive you of citizens rights since we don't have effective oversight') and the Transportation Suppression Administration (motto: 'all of our actions are inexplicable, but that doesn't matter as long as you take your shoes off and we can pretend we are effective in the war on terror') are agencies hiding behind 'Security Directives' which they use to deny anyone the rationale for why they do what they do as 'classified' information as they pursue their main goal of protecting their political existence over all other 'duties'.

[rgibson]

Lajitas was a class A with a customs agent from around 1920 to sometime in the 1930's.     Lajitas was then a Class B crossing  until 1989 (customs found out about it in Sept 1996.)  Note: an article in the NY Times in March of 1996 with a reporter crossing at Boquillas started the questions from Washington)

Note:  Boquillas still had a customs agent and was a Class A, the last agent was Ken Sims, until some time in the 1970's when he was transfered to Presidio.  Sims retired in Presidio about five years ago.

With a Class B, it was okay for only American citizens to cross at Lajitas or Boquillas.  If there were any purchases made, you were to present yourself and the purchases or commercial goods at the nearest custom office as soon as possible.

In 1996 Presidio found that the Class B crossings had been eliminated from the rules on the Mexico border (did not change on the Canadian border) in 1989.  All crossings were pretty much stopped for a couple of months after the notification.  Then, things went back to pretty much the way they were before the September 1996 letters of notification to the commercial crossers and to the park.  Not many, if any, commercial crossings were even thought about since the fine was heavy and automatic federal prision.

On May 10, 2002 customs sent a fax to the park but made the infamous raid in Lajitas without notice.  Crossings were stopped, period.

Since then a few gringos have been caught coming back without any purchases and were taken to Presidio.  They thought they were going to be fined $5,000 before being released.  The two gringos that I know were eventually given a warning and released in Presidio and the next time they would be fined.  Needless to say, they do not even think about crossing back at Lajitas now.

[atomota]

Wow!  Thanks everyone for the info.  Before posing that question I had never posted to any type of forum (I guess I'm just a voyeur).  I'm impressed with the quality responses. 

[seb75013]

very informative thread.

what about a side hike on the mexican side when on a canoe trip with outfitters? I understand we're subject to the same rules but was wondering whether someone had something in this particular situation...

[aggiehiker]

I paddle all over Lake Amistad,  many times launching from the Mexican beach area. I have never had problems with customs nor Park Rangers. I've launched several times from Box Canyon on the Texas side and explored the canyons on the Mexican side and never had problems. A power boat may be different.

I'll be doing Boquillas at Spring Break and hiking on both sides of the river. I'll find out what they say out there.

[SHANEA]

I paddle all over Lake Amistad,  many times launching from the Mexican beach area. I have never had problems with customs nor Park Rangers. I've launched several times from Box Canyon on the Texas side and explored the canyons on the Mexican side and never had problems. A power boat may be different.

I'll be doing Boquillas at Spring Break and hiking on both sides of the river. I'll find out what they say out there.

Better have passport in hand - otherwise it's a long walk to Presidio.  I certainly wouldn't "telegraph" as to what my "intentions" are - people have been "busted" on this board over stuff.