OK, my wife suddenly got paranoid/concerned about what to do if we're out of the country and something occurs to close the borders. (e.g. another 9/11 type attack)

Specifically, we're going to Jamaica here soon. Theoretically, as our passports still aren't showing up as being processed. Although a June 8th US Dept of State announcement says they'll be lifting the passport requirement for US citizens re-entering via air from certain countries.

Anyways, she's on a "what if" preparatory kick and wants to find out. I told her, hey, the resorts have free ... cough ... "parties" so we'll just bake our way through the lockdown. (To which she pointed out that if I have a problem taking an occasional pain med prescribed to her, she seriously doubts any "baking" I do is going to be anything other than my paper-white skin in the harsh tropical sun.)

I'm not having much luck digging into the State Dept website on this "what if". So I thought I'd ask here. Anybody know the drill if the US shuts the borders for whatever reason? (Beyond, "hope you've got money on ya.")

My suggestion would be to thank your lucky stars that you won't be trapped in the mire of meatheaded authoritarianism that would likely descend upon us if such a thing were to happen.

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Please enjoy your trip through this door.

Extend your vacation?

Captain Kidd -

*assuming* you have no passport (why are you overseas without one?) when the borders close, the first stop should be the US Embassy (or Consulate). They will have channels (and probably already have received the protocols for what to do).

Contact the local terrorists wherever you are. Sign up. They'll know how to get you back in.

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Hitch a ride with some drug runners.

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis

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During 9/11, my Dad and stepmom were on their honeymoon, in Hawaii. Got stuck for more than a week. Nice place to be stuck, but the hotel refused to extend their stay & they got 'stuck' with a bill that took years to pay off.

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"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
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No Rastamon in Jamaica, mon... De Ethiopian king grant them lands in dere "holy land" and dey all move to dat hellhole. Even worship de kingmon as a living God for his gift.

DoodlerMode [ACTIVE]

Gotta wonder how much frickin' chronic you've gotta inhale before Ethiopia starts looking like paradise...

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The last time I felt a warm fuzzy feeling, I was informed by my doctor that it was just gas.

Current US policy allows citizens to travel to Mexico, Canada, and the Carribbean without passports.

Note: If this happens to you, PM me. I have the name of a coyote... er, travel agent in Nuevo Laredo that could come in handy. He could even get you a job at a poultry processing plant if you're interested.

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Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by ignorance or stupidity.
Isaac Asimov

Just to clarify, the policy is that you don't need the actual passport if you can prove that you have applied for one and simply haven't received it yet.

And, of course, that policy could be reversed at a moment's notice (and, I think, quite probably would be in the event of another 9/11 type attack).

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SeanF

"Ask to understand, but don't challenge unless you have the knowledge."--NEOWatcher

The contents of this post are ©2009 by SeanF and may not be copied or retransmitted in any form without the express written consent of SeanF

I've been in Texas, no thanks. I'll wave down a passing Haitian boat (yes I know Jamaica is west of Haiti, but it's not like they have the best of navigational systems).

Yeah it's current policy, however my concern, which is over that of closing of the borders, is to have my rear left hanging if something happens to suddenly cause that policy to be retracted. I'm confident that there's policies in place to cover that. Not to mention, my prints are all over the frigging place in the bowels of the US databases. You've gotta be a US citizen to work at a nuke plant. I worked at a nuke plant. Therefore, I'm a US citizen, just query the NRC's database.
...
That's a logical approach and rarely does any government bureaucracy work on logic.

It's still a month before we go so there's still plenty of time. Our relatives' applications are shown as being processed so ours should be in there right behind them.

The passport policy is pretty much a red herring, to your concerns. When they closed the borders and grounded the planes after 9/11, nobody was getting into the country for a few days whether they had passports or not.

You've noticed that, too, eh?

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SeanF

"Ask to understand, but don't challenge unless you have the knowledge."--NEOWatcher

The contents of this post are ©2009 by SeanF and may not be copied or retransmitted in any form without the express written consent of SeanF

Not really. I'd say something is more likely to cause the policy to be retracted than to cause the shutting of the borders. For example, a sudden "concern" that terrorists are using fake driver licenses and passport applications to enter the US via flying in from one of the approved countries. It doesn't have to be a real event, just the sudden fear of something happening to take advantage of the intentional passport loophole.

Good point.

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SeanF

"Ask to understand, but don't challenge unless you have the knowledge."--NEOWatcher

The contents of this post are ©2009 by SeanF and may not be copied or retransmitted in any form without the express written consent of SeanF

Don't hope. Have extra money available. Most lock downs aren't more than a few days, so if some buncha knuckledraggers decide to relieve us of their presence in the mortal coil at the same time taking several hundred people with them, be ready for another week in the sun.

Credit cards, traveller's checks, debit cards, whatever. The borders get closed, the computers still work.

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The last time I felt a warm fuzzy feeling, I was informed by my doctor that it was just gas.

The week before 9/11 an acquaintant of mine was diving in Truk Lagoon. ON 9/11 he was flying back from Polynesia. Their trip involved changing planes in Ecuador, so not surprisingly he and his wife were "stuck" in Ecuador for a week. Not only they got some more tropical diving in, but the airline paid for the hotel!

Moral of the story -- time your trips so that you are actually on a plane when terrorists attack. Preferably not on the same plane as the terrorists.

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Fiction has to be plausible. Reality is under no such constraint.

And try to make your plane changes in places that are nice.

for example, never change planes in Newark.

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"I'm as accurate as any psychic. And I'm a cartoon!" -- Squidward

"Arrrgh, the laws of physics be a harsh mistress!" -- Bender

And where does the Newark-basher reside?

It's not as though it's impossible to get forged passports, either. People've been doing it for a very long time.

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

Just go to the Cafe Americain and ask for Rick. And ask the guy at the piano to play that song, you know the one.

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Don of Borg - Cool, Calm, Collective.

"Within the next generation I believe that the world's leaders will discover that infant conditioning and narco-hypnosis are more efficient, as instruments of government, than clubs and prisons, and that the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Have you ever been to the Newark airport?

Is so, imagine spending a weekend there, if you got stuck due to a flight being cancelled?

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"I'm as accurate as any psychic. And I'm a cartoon!" -- Squidward

"Arrrgh, the laws of physics be a harsh mistress!" -- Bender

My country only has one land border - if that ever got closed, I'd be delighted!

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A fellow I worked with at the time was in mid-air over the Atlantic at the time of the attack, returning from Europe. They were diverted to Nova Scotia and he was stuck for several days there without his luggage (they wouldn't allow them to get it for some reason). He slept on a cot in a local school, not exactly fun, but he said the people of NS were very kind.

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I know, mainly I'm waiting for some "sky-is-falling" section of the public or government to find this "free way in" (my guess at their thinking, not my thinking) and try to get it suspended.

Either way I'm not that concerned.

I think you're worrying too much. Go on vacation. Relax. If the situation evolves, then deal with it. What's the alternative? Stay home?

The only thing (and it has already been mentioned) is to have access to extra emergency money - but that's good advice on any trip.

Read my first post and last sentence of the last post again. I'm not that concerned, it's a possibility, but not one to lose sleep over. Plus, it wasn't me that asked the question in the first place, just my wife what-ifing. (what-if'ing?)

A hurricane (whee! I've always wanted to have a hurricane party! ) or keeping my wallet on me and not having it find its way into somebody else's possession while out gawking at the sights is higher. And so far the hurricane season has been light. (Now I've jinxed myself into a Cat 5.)

Shouldn't a man with an id like "Captain Kidd" be able to protect his spouse against all dangers?

Heh, I maintain that his wife was his downfall. She had this chronic issue of marrying sailors who then died.

I have a suggestion: Leave her home and go on wild pirate cruise thru the Caribbean: Drinking and pillaging (and the other things ).