hello friends, 
i am planning for a road trip along with my friends this summer from dallas to MA, then come all the way down through east course linking buffalo New york and various other places including Miami. We are 7 of us and i am confused that we should carry valid visa and i-20 also or not. some of my friends do not have a valid i-20 and visa has also been expired but they are not driving. any one knows that should all of us carry visa and i-20 or its ok with drivers license. 

Valid Driver license should be fine .

Hi Rk,
I do not agree that valid Driver license would be fine.. make ur I-20 photocopy N If you have valid visa make a copy also N carry it with you... I live in buffalo. Its strict here u might face border patrol people asking for documents. My roomate when she was riding in greyhound, they stopped bus N check the documents of every people N one of the chinese gal didnt have and they take her somewhere n didnt let her go.
N she was also aked in peen station in NY.. heres also the link that i found in sajha a yrs ago. http://chronicle.com/article/Far-From-Canada-Aggressive/125880/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
I also had such expereince when travelling in amtrak but i wasnt asked any documents ... It was a random check..
So.. I think u should carry .. but dont worry in MA coz its not strict but about RI, there is....
now its all on u... try to be in safe side ..

 @Thapar 

 @Rkattel

If you are not crossing the boader to canada, valid driver's license should be more than enough. Even if you travel by air within US, driver's license should be enough.

AE 

@ altergo,
Thanks for posting the picture. I liked it though. But sorry to tell you that I have here more than 5 yrs and I dont think i should give u more explanation. I visited to texas N oklahoma also in summer brk but i spend my undergrad in NY and MA. I live 30 min drive from Niagara Falls and 10 min walk from Peace bridge. So, I know how the situation in Buffalo. If You get greyhound in Downtown buffalo, you might be the one of them for random check. I prefer to be in safe side rather than being in trouble (if in case). I should assume that you haven't read the link yet. I wrote mine and my roomate's experiences And also whats the harm of carrying your photo copied document? It doesnt hurt you neither makes u feel down. And rk attel asked for suggestions and he deserve to know what might be the possibility and it is his choice whether to carry documents or not. So, I would suggest you not to underestimate others before saying others. Should I tell you a story when a nepali guy was arrested in philadelphia coz he wasn't carrying any documents and though he had DL?

At conculsion, if you are travelling around the border, border patrol will be done randomly around 100 miles radius basis. But its up to you whether to carry documents or not. I prefer carrying it coz I always travel on amtrak and planes once I'm done with my semester. My international student advisor also requests us to carry documents though we are travelling inside coz you dont know what might happen.

 ..

 thapar is 100% right. Situations have changed now... if you are hanging out in 100 mile radius of border, you should keep I-20 and visa at all times.