border crossings

[cellio]

I don't know how to look up the answer to this question (i.e. who I should be calling to ask): what paperwork is a citizen legally required to be able to produce to get into the country? Dani and I have driven across the Canadian border dozens of times and I've never been asked for ID. (He shows his green card.) I've never had anything more significant than my driver's license and voter registration card with me. (The latter is hardly a good proof of citizenship, but *anyone* can get a driver's license so I figure it might help.) I don't have a passport, nor do I have a copy of my birth certificate. Normally none of this would concern me, but with the heightened state of worry in the country, I wonder if I'm going to have trouble getting back from Toronto this weekend.

What could they, theoretically, legally demand? What kind of proof of citizenship might I have lying around the house already that I should take?

Comments

[chite.livejournal.com]

Last time I travelled back from Canada, they just asked where everyone lived, and looked at our drivers licenses. But that was before the war started.

Having a birth certificate would help, but probably having the driver's license, voter reg card, and a whole lot of other ID with your name or name and address of it would probably help. In general they won't give you any problems, especially at the really touristy border crossings (I went by the Niagara crossing).