This is a true-life story. I'm an American seeking the retirement lifestyle as an Ex-Patriot in Mexico. I had been traveling for a month via bus across Mexico. I had been through many checkpoints with immigration agents entering the bus to randomly check a few passengers for proper travel documents. When it finally happened to me, I was surprised to find out I didn't have what was required. With nothing but my U.S. passport, I was an illegal alien. I was taken off the bus, my luggage pulled and tag checked, and the bus drove away. SPOILER ALERT! I was imprisoned for six days in an immigration detention facility in Acayucan, Veracruz, Mexico, then deported by two Mexican immigration agents to Houston, Texas.