Never going to Tijuana again

[gzz]

I’ve been going once every year or so on day trips, and always parked and walked. Normally the wait to get back in the USA is 5-15 minutes. I am at 3 hours and counting right now. The line stretches out the door for block after block and is barely moving. It was like this when I crossed over at 9:30am, maybe even worse.

The “wait time” listed online is grossly inaccurate. It has 100 minutes.

At least ATT data service reaches into Mexico a quarter mile now.

[bearishgurl]

gzz, I think a Sentri Pass is in order. I don’t know anyone who has the kind of trouble you’re experiencing.

Hope you are now back in the US and headed home or are home.

[spdrun]

Blame demagogues like Bush, Brewer, and Trump who want border security at all costs. Because terrorists and criminals bladdedy-bladdedy-blah. Frankly, if we were slightly less profoundly retarded, we’d go back to the pre-9/11 system of border security. If a few thousand extra illegals per year get through, so what?

Oh yeah, and G-d help us if the toupeed prick actually wins any political position other than that of city dog-catcher.

We’re really allowed this country to be turned into a controlling shithole over the past 14 years.

BTW – T-mobile is going to be offering free North American calling for all customers starting July 15th. Free calling to/from Canada and Mexico, but also free roaming within all of North America!

[Reality]

[quote=spdrun]Blame demagogues like Bush, Brewer, and Trump who want border security at all costs. Because terrorists and criminals bladdedy-bladdedy-blah. Frankly, if we were slightly less profoundly retarded, we’d go back to the pre-9/11 system of border security. If a few thousand extra illegals per year get through, so what?
[/quote]

OP mentioned going to TJ every year or so and THIS year the time to cross back skyrocketed. How does Bush have anything to do with it since he’s been retired 6+ years?

[spdrun]

The shitshow really got going under Bush after 9/11. I remember coming back sometime in the 90s with my family, and there was barely a line.

[Reality]

[quote=spdrun]The shitshow really got going under Bush after 9/11. I remember coming back sometime in the 90s with my family, and there was barely a line.[/quote]

According to OP, it was barely a line until 2015. Maybe we should be blaming Obama.

[spdrun]

I’ve heard complaints about lines for the past 10-15 years. Maybe the OP got lucky before.

It’s sad. Remember when the GOP and its candidates were reasonable about immigration?

[moneymaker]

I think there are like 3 different lanes,-ready- -sentri- and the -regular- line, just makes sure you are not in the regular line.

[spdrun]

It’s fucking absurd that Americans should need special permission/dispensation and pay additional fees to re-enter their own fucking country in an expeditious manner. A regular passport should be enough for rapid processing.

Why the FUCKING HELL should one be required to present tax info and bank statements and submit to an intrusive interview in order to be able to skip a line that shouldn’t exist in the first place?
http://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/sentri/sentri-overview

[moneymaker]

What’s really f’ing stupid is that the customs people can’t even scan the rfid chip that is embedded in the ID. I think it would speed things up if they could.

[spdrun]

What’s really stupid is that we take border security so “seriously.” I get scanning for radiation and chemical signatures — no one would want a WMD entering the US.

But if a few thousand more illegal immigrants enter the US, who gives a damn? They’re a drop in the bucket compared to the US population at large. Drugs? Who cares? Let the hard-core addicts burn out and either die or be forced into treatment that much quicker.

If they die, they can always be replaced by the extra immigration 🙂

[bearishgurl]

You can get a passport now with a special border crossing card for $30 or $60 more (can’t remember). I just renewed my passport which expired 18 years ago and just had to make an appt to bring my old one into the SD dtn office, fill out a form and meet a human officer briefly so he/she could see for themselves that I’m the same person. I signed a declaration under oath and paid the fees and rec’d the docs in the mail 8 days later.

The new docs are beautiful and fancy!

I guess those new border crossing cards (for MX/CAN) must vet a returning US citizen into the “ready” lane. I haven’t experimented with it yet.

Yeah, spdrun, I used to roam freely between Ensenada, Rosarito and Tijuana and the US almost weekly. But that was before 9/11 when it was possible to do so without docs. We even drove to La Paz a couple of times in an old Ford pickup with 3 gas tanks! (This was before it was paved all the way down there and “resort-like.”)

I don’t travel internationally but just mainly renewed so I can go “rescue” my kids (with a lawyer in tow, if necessary) if they become hospitalized or get in trouble or otherwise detained while out of the country. Their dad has a Sentri pass but has a wacky schedule and is often 1000 miles or more into MX for weeks at a time.

[spdrun]

As far as I know, the passport card is not a SENTRI or Global Entry card. It’s just a regular passport, only usable for North America in a smaller format.

Waste of money if you have the full-sized version. It makes sense as a stand alone document since it’s cheaper than the passport book.

[Hatfield]

Yes, the passport card does not get you into the special lines. It’s just a convenient card you can carry in your wallet in lieu of carrying the regular passport. It is only good for land crossings into Mexico and Canada. If you fly you have to use the regular passport. If you sign up for a new passport, there’s an incremental fee you pay to get both the passport and the passport card. I went ahead and did it even though I don’t really care for going to Mexico anymore.

if you sign up for Global Entry, you get three things in one shot 1) a Global Entry Card which lets you bypass customs when reentering the US by air, and it 2) also gets you access to the SENTRI lane when coming from Mexico, and it gives you 3) a KTN so you can sign up for TSA PreCheck.

Just flew four times with TSA Pre Check and it’s like flying was in the old days – no backscatter, no removing belts or shoes, and laptops and liquids can stay in your luggage.

[spdrun]

I get the benefits, but don’t like the idea of creating two classes of people. Especially not as a reaction to 9/11, which while horrible, was a relatively small incident in the grand scheme of things — the number of deaths was less than 10% of the number of people who die of gun violence or car accidents every year.

And any future such events were prevented not by TSA, but by a policy of locked cockpit doors and non-cooperation with hijackers.

It’s amazing — I’ve flown within Europe in the last few years. No shoe check, barely any border controls once in the EU, no backscatter in some countries, all without begging their governments for permission not to be humiliated.

America! YEAH! Land of the free! HAHAHAHAHA!

[Author]

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