Warrants and international travel

Just found out i might have either a misdemeanor warrant or a felony warrant for theft i think its under 300.00, its in indiana and i am flying to acapulco but leaving out of nashville, i have a passport, will the warrant show up when i am leaving and changing flights in texas, or when i return? A attorney i spoke with said that they dont usually add you in databases like that unless they think you are a flight risk, or know you even have a passport, so I shouldnt be registered on a no fly list,,,,any 411 out there for me because i am traveling with my baby, and the tickets were bought for the wedding a few months ago and no time to take care of the warrant before i go, so help with any info, or just chance it??

Welcome to da board. Might read this thread for some ideas:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...y-warrant.html

Frankly, you should have settled this before you bought the tickets. If there indeed is a warrant out for your arrest, there will not be any consideration for your baby, circumstances of your travel or how long ago you bought your ticket.

Either the attorney did not address how you may be caught upon re-entering the United States or what he/she said to you was not fully mentioned here.

Advice is to contact an attorney that will get this resolved before you leave.


I think Acapulco is still international travel.

Yeah, they will definitely catch it...

If your lucky and they don't catch it outbound, coming back to the US, the CBP will catch it when they swipe your passport.

And as previously stated, there won't be any consideration for your child, you will be arrested on the spot (as you should be btw. Take care of your stuff before you fly to avoid surprises at the airport).

In spite of all the boogeyman warnings in this thread, I'd be surprised if a mere $300 warrant would be enough to get you popped by CBP on your return home, or by any cop you might encounter at an airport along your route.

Untold thousands of people have warrants, and my best guess is that very few people are arrested by the airport police, TSA, or CBP unless the warrant is for a serious crime.

But the problem with being a fugitive is you never really know for sure.

My thoughts exactly.

A few years ago, a friend of mine that I was traveling with coming back from the Caribbean was remove from a plane by police and spent a few nights in jail over some warrants in Florida from a few years previous caused by some bounced checks (his accountant made a mistake and he replaced most of the bounced checks but missed a couple). It's more likely than not that somebody with a pending warrant will be arrested when flying internationally.

Where are all of these arrest-warrant threads coming from? In the 10 years I've been on FlyerTalk I don't ever recall such a concentration of threads on people with legal problems.

I would think CBP would have access to some kind of database, keeping in mind that Canada has been denying entry to anyone from the US with a DUI conviction.


The Google bots are very effective these days.

Op, just take care of your warrant.

Hmmm.

I realize this won't help the OP, but this thread has me wondering.

If someone had a warrant (let's say for a minor crime), and needed to get somewhere internationally, one strategy that might work would be to trvael via Canada, and use a smaller US airport without a FIS/CBP presence as your US gateway.

It seems like the big risk for arrest is when returning to the US and going through passport control. If reentering via Canada, typically the person would pre-clear at the Canadian airport. So the person hands over the passport. The warrant is detected...and the CBP officer can't make an arrest on Canadian soil.

The CBP might see if the local authorities want to arrest and hold him pending extradition...but that's going to be unlikely. The CBP can contact the law enforcement agency at the arrival airport, but again it is unlikely to drum up much interest - especially if it is for a relatively minor crime (this risk can also be mitigated by having a second ticket on a different US bound flight that is kept secret).

I'm not saying it is without risk, but seems like it might be a workable plan.

I remember reading a story about a woman who was arrested coming off a cruise ship for non-payment of a $50 fine from the US Park Service that was paid before she left the park. The judge was not a happy puppy.

My friend, who is a Federal LEO, said they can make an arrest anywhere in the world, as long as the other country recognizes the arrest. He said, in this case, Canada would recognize the arrest as the CPB agent is acting there on Canada's authority.

I don't know how it would all play out, but I don't think all these runs for the national / state / county border where the pursuer stops at the border are true.

+1

Get taken care of & get your life cleaned up. I'm not interested in traveling with a (n accused) thief.

Seriously, does anyone want to be on a plane or in line with a(n accused) thief? I'd rather not, thank you.

Meanwhile, don't expect much sympathy here.

That sounds like a felony which would be different; from what I understand, most misdemeanor warrants stay in state unless other arrangements are made.

An irresponsible public combined with an overextended and ineffective court and criminal justice system.

From what I hear, costs tend to keep misdemeanor warrants within a state and out of NCIC and other states. Convictions are a different animal. Chances are if someone with a misdemeanor warrant out of Idaho were pulled over in Illinois, the Illinois cop wouldn't know about the warrant, I believe. The same would go for CBP if the warrant is not in a national system which most are not.

Can no one here read? The OP doesn't have time before leaving the counrty.

I'll bet; sounds like all federal warrants go in NCIC.

So by clearing up the warrant, the threat of traveling with a thief no longer exists?

Good thing the OP didn't ask for any.