Job Discussion Forums

[gordogringo]

Oh and regarding id's at least in Tijuana you are required to have id at all times. A drivers license is acceptable. However that law only applies to foreigners.Like most laws in Tijuana. The penalty for no id in TJ is a ride in the police car for 10 minutes then back to where you came from 40-60 poorer and Tijuana cop 40-60 dollars richer. That is the penalty for most everything here. You are also required to have plates on your car. Most of my mexican friends have none. I had one on the back and thought that made me an overachiever in tijuana. Got stopped at a checkpoint and TJPD wrote me a ticket for $750 pesos for no front plate. Did'nt have any cash on me for a mordita.

[MikeySaid]

[gordogringo]

I work and live in Tijuana. Am getting very involved in immigrant rights activism and that along with putting on two 9mm pistols and a San Diego police uniform a couple of nights a week keeps me busy crossing the border. On top of running my school and teaching my advanced conversational classes. And my hopes to set up a charity language center for Tijuanas most poor citizens to help them get a better chance at higher paying careers.Have the building now am trying to get doors open by June 2007. And if that were not enough a few other cops , a competing school owner and I are buying a strip club in Tijuana. So move on down if you want. You will be in good company. There are 25,000 gringos here now.What is one more?

[Sgt Killjoy]

Ok, first off, entering Mexico without getting an FMT is a jailable offense. Long story for a another time and place, but I spent 6 days in a jail in Tapachula for a related matter. A few years in jail is what you could be looking at. Scared? You should be, but now that you have quantified the worst possible outcome, now is try to improve on the situation.

Because you don't need a passport to enter Mexico from TJ, you need to claim you lost the FMT, tell them you paid the $21 and you are perturbed about it all. But go ahead and pay the $21 to get on the plane. Never, ever, ever admit to not getting it. There is no way they prove you didn't lose it.

Just last year I was boarding a flight on United from DF to LAX with my son. I gave our FMT's to the girl with our tickets but she misplaced them and was asking me to pay $20 X 2 since we couldn't produce our FMT's. She found them, but the point is that the $20 is more important than the actual paper. There would have been no problem.

So take a deep breath, realize in your mind that you "lost" your FMT and play the dumb tourist and you won't even break a sweat.

[Guy Courchesne]

Sarge, I can't agree with what you write here...

[gordogringo]

Oh boy sarge. If you fold over a fmt you had best steer clear of Tijuana.The local cops would get everything you own and life savings to boot for jaywalking! Is not that big a deal,really. As far as the United airlines thing does not suprise me.Getting proper change back in Tijuana or the posted exchange rate in a restaurant requires careful attention. Everytime I buy anything I always count the change twice as pocketing the change or fake taxes is a big income generator for store clerks here.
Gringos will be taken advantage of at every corner if you are not street smart or a spanish speaker. Just the way it is.

[Sgt Killjoy]

[Guy Courchesne]

[Sgt Killjoy]

[gordogringo]

Have not had to spend time in Mexican jail.Or any jail. That is why they let me be a cop three days a week in San Diego. But you surely must have ticked off someone to get behind bars.The reasons the others are in jail is Mexicans consider them inferior and a nuisance. In a pinch a mordita will work. I have not paid anyone lately as two of my new best friends are the area watch commander (police) for my colonia and the head of internal affairs for Tijuana police. For the price of a few beers at the club every few weeks I carry thier business cards and when the police try to shake me down I tell them I have to ask my friends first before I pay them. After seeing the cards the police always have something else to do.

[ls650]

[Sgt Killjoy]

The best way to document this is to make a nice trip down to Tapachula and visit the jail yourself. Granted my eye witness accounts from 1997 are a bit dated, but since you don't trust them, you should check it out for yourself.

[ls650]

Seeing as how that's a 10+ hour bus ride from here, I think I'll give your suggestion a pass... but you didn't answer my question. How many non-Mexicans were being held for immigration offenses there? I'm also curious to know how many are held for more than a few days.

[Sgt Killjoy]

A lot more than 100.....too many to count. I am trying to do the count in my head, but since taking a head count was not one of my prime missions while in jail, I really can't give an exact number. I will say this a good 50% of the guys in my cellblock were in on immi offenses. El Salvadorans seemed to outnumber every other nationality.

Most were there because they had been caught more than once trying to cross the border or were traveling with family members. In case you didn't know, if you travel across the border with undocumented family members, you can be convicted as a pollero.

Case in point: I know an American guy who rented a car in DF and drove to Tapachula. He had went to Tapachula to meet his wife and several month old daughter who had just finished their vacation in Honduras. His wife brought along her sister. He didn't think anything about it.

Just outside of Oaxaca state, his car was stopped at a checkpoint and they were asked for documents. "Paul", his wife, and his daughter of course had their passports/visas for Mexico all in order. The sister did not. Now what do you suppose happened?

I will come back and post the ending after y'all have stewed on it a bit.

[Ben Round de Bloc]