Introduction — commander's intent
We are the US Customs and Border Protection (USBP). We operate the Bridge of the Americas — the only legal border crossing in the game — and we perform border protection. This ROE is binding for every member of the USBP.
The ROE tells you when and how much force you may use. It does not tell you how to do a check, a search or customs clearance — that is in the SOP. Above the ROE there are always the Rules 2026, the GameBook 2026 and safety; the ORG and the GAMEMASTER decide.
The future of occupied Mexico will be decided by a referendum (Ciudad Juárez, 8 Aug 2026, 13:00–15:00). Every Mexican who dies needlessly at the crossing is a vote we did not win. The referendum is won by behaviour, not by shooting. We use deadly force as the last option, not the first one.
Our refresh is 1 hour — the minimum value, which cannot be shortened any more. So we last longer than most of the other side. The USBP may have a medic (max. 1 per squad, max. 3 per platoon), but it has no ambulance.
Right to defence
You may open fire or use preventive force against those who show a HOSTILE ACT or HOSTILE INTENT (a threat of immediate use of force) against you or against other friendly forces.
- Hostile act — the attack is already happening: shooting, a knife attack, a violent entry, an attack on a patrol.
- Hostile intent — an attack is about to happen: drawing a weapon, aiming, a coordinated movement to contact distance.
Example: A person at the border crossing pulls out a hidden weapon and you can expect that they will use it against allied units = an attack can be expected. You act immediately.
The right to defence also applies in the occupied part of Mexico, where we may operate. It never applies against a person, a vehicle or a house marked with a reflective vest — shooting at a target marked this way is always forbidden, with no exception. Self-defence also does not excuse breaking the shooting rules: even in defence, only a pistol and a CITY GUN may be used at the crossing and in the city.
PID — positive identification
Before engaging, Positive Identification (PID) is required — a reasonable certainty that the target is a legitimate target. In practice: you must always be 100% sure who you use force against. If you do not have PID, you do not shoot.
Recognition marks 2026
Uniform discipline is mandatory for the whole event and it replaces the "nationality" of persons. You know who you are talking to by the uniform.
| Side | Recognition mark | Relation to the USBP |
|---|---|---|
| US Army | Camouflage set of the US armed forces + US flag | Partner — superior |
| Governor Administrator | Mandatory US flag, multicam/woodland recommended | Partner — superior in the occupied zone |
| ICE | Ranger green cap + ranger green T-shirt + sand trousers + ICE logo, no camouflage and no helmets | Partner — main ally at the crossing |
| EPSO | Sand shirt with EPSO patches, green trousers, green sheriff cap, badge | Partner — judges offences in the USA |
| CIA | Mandatory civilian set, no camouflage patterns and no tactical gear | Partner — often undercover |
| FBI | FBI uniform discipline is not listed in the 2026 documents — you will get the way of recognition on site | Partner — mandate also in occupied Mexico |
| Los Dorados | Boonie hat / US BDU field cap + black T-shirt + sand trousers + Los Dorados logo | Mexican law enforcement — do not confuse with ICE |
| Nuestra Familia | Civilian clothes + JEWELLERY (ring, necklace) | Anti-drug unit, not our partner |
| Texas Rednecks | Civilian set — checked shirt + Texas flag | American civilians, not an armed force |
| Santa Maria de Jarineiro | Hat | Mexican village |
| Mexican cartels | Civilian clothes + coloured scarf anywhere on the body: Sinaloa RED, Gulf BLUE, Los Zetas GREEN, Tijuana ORANGE | Target of checks, the scarf = active membership |
| Zapatistas | Camouflage uniform vz 95 + single-colour beret | The only faction that has the USBP in HATED |
In 2025 we treated a visible scarf as a reliable mark. For 2026 a cartel member must wear the scarf only at the moment when they go into combat or join a firefight. So at the crossing do not rely on the cartel being marked — the absence of a scarf does not mean a clean civilian.
Disguise as a Mexican civilian is allowed only for the factions ICE, FBI, CIA and Zapatistas, and only on Mexican soil, including occupied Mexico. In the USA disguise is forbidden and the USBP never uses it. Expect that a "civilian" coming from Mexico may be our own agent.
Delta Force, DEA and NCIS do not exist in the 2026 game. Our partners are: US ARMY, GOVERNOR ADMINISTRATOR, CIA, FBI, EPSO, ICE. The FBI is a full force with a mandate also in occupied Mexico.
How CIA and FBI agents prove their identity to the USBP without getting killed (in 2025 it was a hidden US flag), and what the current FoF signal is. Do not guess — you will get it on site.
Use graduated force
When time and circumstances allow, use only the force that is necessary and proportionate to protect lives and to complete the mission. Use deadly force only to protect human lives and property designated by the commander.
- Verbal warning and instruction. Loud, clear, in Czech or in English.
- Show of force. Raising the weapon, closing the area, reinforcing the patrol, calling the QRF.
- Administrative sanction. Refusal of entry to the USA, seizure of illegal items, closing the gate. A person who does not cooperate does not have to be let into the USA.
- Detention. The preferred result in most incidents.
- Non-lethal force. A shotgun with a blue tape — a hit stuns the target for 10 minutes. Always a better choice than death.
- Deadly force. Only when a lower level is not enough or the situation does not allow waiting.
Example: You do not use deadly force against a person armed with a knife who is not an immediate threat to anyone. You tell them to drop the knife, you keep distance, and only if it escalates do you use a higher level.
The border crossing is part of the city. Here you may shoot only with a pistol and a CITY GUN (the CITY GUN only in SEMI mode). The same applies in Ciudad Juárez and in inhabited areas where we may operate. Breaking this leads to penalties and to exclusion from the event.
How many CITY GUN tapes the USBP gets and how they will be split between the gate, the patrols and the QRF. Also: the stun shotgun carries a SAFE GUN tape, but in the city and at the crossing only a PISTOL and a CITY GUN may shoot — until command specifies this, do not use the shotgun at the crossing and in the city.
Border regime
The border has three technical forms and each one has a different ROE. Knowing the difference is the duty of every USBP member. Careful, the colours are crossed: white-red tape = yellow line on the map, yellow-black tape = red line on the map. Do not mix them up when you report your position.
- White-red tape (YELLOW line on the map) — here the border must not be crossed by anyone, in any direction, not even by the USBP. Crossing it is an out-of-game breach of the rules — you do not solve it by shooting, but by reporting it to the GAMEMASTER or the ORG.
- Yellow-black tape (RED line on the map) — it can be crossed, but it is ILLEGAL and the punishment is death. Shoot to Kill applies here, PID is still a condition. But usually it is better to let the group cross and to detain them in the USA, where they have limited options to escape.
- Mobile fences and non-woven fabric — cannot be crossed, our crossing stands here. It is forbidden to damage the walls, to crawl under them, to pull them aside or to break through them with vehicles (this applies to us too). Shooting through the walls is forbidden and a hit through them is NOT VALID. The gate of the crossing cannot be destroyed or forced open — behind it you are relatively safe, use that instead of escalating.
Damaging or changing the border marking — tapes, fences and fabric — is forbidden under the threat of immediate exclusion from the event. Nobody from the USBP moves, tears down or "adjusts" the tape, not even for a better firing position.
In 2025 we interpreted the white-red tape as a roleplay "high wall that you cannot shoot through". The 2026 documents do not state this interpretation — they only talk about the ban on crossing and about an out-of-game breach. Do not use shooting as a reaction to someone crossing the white-red tape.
Vehicles of level 2 and higher may drive into the USA across the yellow-black tape (lower levels may not). It is not clear whether such a crossing is legal in the game, or only technically possible. Until this is clarified, do not open fire on these vehicles and report them to command. Also ask whether it is allowed to shoot through the open gate of the crossing (in 2025 it was allowed) — until it is clarified, do not shoot.
Shoot to Kill — and why we still prefer detention
The USBP is authorised to use deadly force against persons who cross the border at a place marked with the yellow-black tape, and against persons who cross a closed border crossing (there even without a warning). PID is always a condition. Crossing the white-red tape is not solved by force — it is reported to the GAMEMASTER.
Anyone who tries to cross the border illegally has a reason for it — they are armed or they smuggle contraband. A dead smuggler tells you nothing and you cannot seize the goods from a dead person, and the goods disappear from the game as soon as they reach a dealer. The preferred procedure is detention, search, seizure and handover for interrogation: ICE (illegal activity and migration), CIA (intelligence interrogation, identification of the commanders of Mexican factions), FBI (federal investigation), EPSO (judges offences committed in the USA).
In 2025 the rule was "if they run back to Mexico, do not follow them, it is illegal". For 2026 this does not apply — the USBP may operate in the occupied part of Mexico, pursuit there is legal. Earlier we handed detainees over to "CIA/DEA"; the DEA does not exist, its role was taken over by ICE, CIA, FBI and EPSO.
You do not use deadly force even for an illegal crossing if the shot would break another rule: through walls and fabric, from the border road or onto the border road, at a person in a reflective vest, without direct line of sight (blindfire), or at the crossing with a weapon other than a pistol and a CITY GUN.
Detention and interrogation
Detention is our preferred result. But it has hard limits and they are followed without exception.
- Detention may last a maximum of 2 hours and must not be repeated on purpose. Do not hold people "just in case" until the end of the shift.
- If the detained person says "I refuse detention", the detention is only played out in game — you do not touch them. The detained person then must not try to escape until they are released and must move according to your instructions.
- A detained person can be transported across the game area, imprisoned and interrogated.
- Interrogation is possible only with a detained person. Either play it out as LARP (preferred, a better experience for both sides), or use the rule of 3 questions: the interrogated person must answer three questions, may lie in one answer, and must answer two truthfully regardless of the consequences.
- Contraband, persons of intelligence interest and faction commanders are reported to command and handed over to ICE, CIA or FBI.
- Offences committed on US territory are handled by EPSO in cooperation with the USBP — you hand the offenders over to them. The EPSO decision is final, the punishments and the amount of the fine are their business.
The 2 hour limit and the rule "I refuse detention" are now explicitly in the rules. Neither the ROE nor the SOP from 2025 stated any maximum length of detention.
Where detainees are transported (the home location of the USBP — the "ISAF base" from 2025 does not exist in the 2026 documents), whether transport counts into the 2 hour limit, and whether the USBP may also issue a fine on the spot, or only the EPSO.
What is forbidden also for the USBP
The uniform is not an exception from the rules. Remember this as a fixed list.
- You never seize cash from anyone, even when it clearly comes from drugs. Money is always clean.
- Identity documents (the Mexican Carté de Identidat and the US ID / citizenship) and the collector document with POI stamps can be checked, but they cannot be seized and cannot be destroyed — because of the referendum. Pistols are not seized, they can only be destroyed with a white tape.
- RED STOP. If the searched person says "I refuse the search / RED STOP", the physical action stops immediately and the person instead presents all game items. You respect this term without discussion. The same applies with a vehicle and a building, where the driver or the owner must also be present.
- Consideration for children and young people. They are present at the crossing — it is still a LARP, it is not necessary to search everyone with the hardest method. The safety of civilians and uninvolved persons is above everything, a hit on them is always the shooter's mistake.
- Shooting at the crossing, in the city and in inhabited areas only with a pistol and a CITY GUN. Without exception, even in self-defence.
- The border road between the occupation zone and Mexico: it is forbidden to fight FROM the road and ONTO the road, including destroying vehicles, to block the road, to stop or stand on it, to treat wounded on it and to use it for your own advantage. Where it is not necessary, you only cross the road on foot or drive across it.
The border road has its own set of rules. In 2025 the instruction for patrols was "do not build roadblocks, but have a grenade launcher ready" — on the border road, destroying vehicles and fighting are explicitly forbidden for 2026.
Who we are subordinate to and where we may go
Compared to 2025 this is a major change. Read all of it.
In 2025 the rule was: "The USBP has one single superior and that is POTUS, USBP command is not subordinate to diplomats, ministers, or other armed forces." For 2026 this DOES NOT APPLY. The GameBook introduces a binding chain of command in which the USBP is subordinate to other forces. Refusing a legitimate order is a breach of the game frame.
| Territory | Chain of command | Position of the USBP |
|---|---|---|
| US territory | US Army > USBP > FBI > ICE > EPSO > CIA | Second in order, subordinate to the US Army |
| Occupied zone | Governor Administrator > US Army > CIA > USBP / ICE > FBI | Fourth in order (equal with ICE), subordinate to the Governor, the US Army and the CIA |
The USBP may operate in the occupied part of Mexico — pursuit, patrols and cooperation with the US Army and ICE beyond the border are legal. We have no mandate in Free Mexico (of our partners only the CIA may go there; the EPSO has the same powers in Mexico as in the USA). The mandate can be changed by the Governor Administrator after consultation with the faction commander. Careful: in Ciudad Juárez and in inhabited areas the city shooting rules apply.
What we do not decide
- The rate of the customs duty (default 10 %, max. 50 % of the price list price) and the import embargo are set by the Governor Administrator with the approval of the ORG. The current values are posted at the crossing, the USBP only collects the customs duty. CHANGED — in 2025 the customs duty was decided by USBP command.
What we do decide
- The Time Pass — for whom and for how long (a range of 45 minutes to 6 hours) is purely the decision of the USBP commander. The recommended standard is 2–3 hours. A holder of US citizenship does not need a pass.
- The search SOP — at the crossing the search is done according to the USBP SOP; persons who do not cooperate do not have to be let into the USA.
- The opening hours of the crossing — they are posted at the gate. The USBP is present 24/7 regardless of whether the crossing is open. If it is closed, it cannot be crossed.
The fixed opening hours 07:00–02:00 do not apply for 2026 and do not state them anywhere as binding. Only what is posted at the gate applies.
The exact opening hours and who sets them; whether the ban on letting armed forces other than American ones into the USA also applies for 2026 and the procedure during a demonstration at the gate; and whether the USBP may enter Free Mexico.