Sentri Pass thread

[rossman]

There is an interesting thread on one of the other forums that I follow regarding the SENTRI card. Here's what the OP originally posted:


So I've had my SENTRI for 5 years now (I am waiting for the renewal as we speak). I very rarely go to Baja unless I cam doing some sort of camping. I've crossed about 50-75 times with my SENTRI and a pretty loaded Land Cruiser with camp gear.

Today however as I was coming back north, the CBP officer was very upset about me having a "full" SUV of gear. He said I was violating SENTRI laws, and that he could revoke my card, send me to secondary, etc.

Anyways, since I've been home I'm trying to find the rules and see if it explicitly says anything about this. I don't recall seeing anything and I've never had another officer even mention anything. He said that I need to use the Ready lanes next time.

I don't have a pass and have no intentions of getting one since I only cross the border once or twice a year but I thought this was interesting. Anyone ever read the fine print on going through with a loaded vehicle versus just human cargo?

Just as an aside, Aquachico, who is an old time member of BWE and no doubt crosses the border more often than makobob, left the following advice on the other forum.

It's a coin toss. Best thing to do is call their bluff. Say you are aware you have a lot of stuff and it goes against the spirit of the sentri lane. You would like to go into secondary as you are not in a hurry.

Done it a few times. Once I went into secondary, it's a 15 minute dog sniff. Good time to stretch, take a quick nap or hit the head.