I'm out of status but want to travel from Los Angeles to New York, USA

Upvote:2

There is no requirement to use or show your passport while travelling by plane on a domestic flight within the US. If you have a valid driver's license, that will be sufficient to fly. Airline employees are not immigration officers and probably wouldn't even know what questions to ask you.

The above answer was written before it became clear that the current US administration (February 2017) will be much more strongly enforcing checks of immigration status for all persons. As a result, it's no longer safe to assume that domestic travellers will not need to show proof of immigration status.

Upvote:3

The TSA does not care about your immigration status or lack thereof. The border patrol sometimes operates at TSA checkpoints, but I'm only aware of this happening at airports closer to the Mexican border (for example McAllen, TX, or San Diego, CA).

I've flown several times between LA and NY without any indication of immigration checks. I've used a non-US passport with no indication of immigration status at TSA checkpoints (I'm a dual US citizen); they've never looked at anything other than the ID page.

Still, the trip increases your risk of exposure. Border Patrol can change their practices without warning. The safest thing to do is to refrain from traveling to New York.

More post

Search Posts

Related post