# Mexico to step up pedestrian border inspections



## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

Mexico to increase pedestrian immigration inspections for southbound crossers at San Ysidro | SanDiegoUnionTribune.com

"TIJUANA — Mexican immigration officials are preparing to ramp up inspections of U.S. citizens and other foreigners entering the country on foot, requiring those crossing from San Ysidro to show travel documents such as a U.S. passport or passport card.


With the opening of new building, authorities plan to create two lanes for pedestrians entering Mexico, one for Mexican citizens and the other for foreigners. “If we don’t have enough agents to review everyone, we’ll review everyone we can,” Figueroa said. “Our intention is not to create congestion at the border. Our intention is to try different strategies to process as many people as we can within a reasonable time frame.”

Similar inspections for those driving across into Mexico are also contemplated, but these “are way, way into the future,” Figueroa said."


Things change and this is one of them. It appears entering Mexico on foot at San Ysidro, California will have INM officers asking foreigners for travel documents soon.

I presume I have to get a FMM card and show the return portion along with my Residente Permanente visa/card from now on and if I or anyone else crosses on foot many times per year they will need to stop and get a FMM every time.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

AlanMexicali said:


> Mexico to increase pedestrian immigration inspections for southbound crossers at San Ysidro | SanDiegoUnionTribune.com
> 
> "TIJUANA — Mexican immigration officials are preparing to ramp up inspections of U.S. citizens and other foreigners entering the country on foot, requiring those crossing from San Ysidro to show travel documents such as a U.S. passport or passport card.
> 
> ...


Does this mean that until now foreigners entering Mexico at this crossing didn't have to show any kind of ID at all? That sounds crazy to me!


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## Meritorious-MasoMenos (Apr 17, 2014)

Isla Verde said:


> Does this mean that until now foreigners entering Mexico at this crossing didn't have to show any kind of ID at all? That sounds crazy to me!


From what I remember crossing by foot or car, because Mexico has a huge number of Americans who cross into the border areas only for a few hours, it figured it made no sense to check them into the country officially. Mexico therefore set up a series of border stops just outside the frontier region and stops cars and buses at those checkpoints.

Back in the pre-9-11 days, I think even U.S. border agents waved through obviously American people re-entering the U.S. It used to be that way as well on the Canadian border, for example at Niagra Falls. Plenty of Americans went over the border only to go under and behind the falls, reachable only from the Canadian side. Pre-911, the guards only asked you where you were born, and waved through those who said born in the U.S. without checking papers (and I imagine Canadians as well).


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

Isla Verde said:


> Does this mean that until now foreigners entering Mexico at this crossing didn't have to show any kind of ID at all? That sounds crazy to me!


For decades at the San Ysidro crossing when you entered Mexico they had a Red light/Green light button on the sidewalk with a table set up with a Customs officer or two on a stool but nobody bothered to push the button so literally anyone entering simply walked into Mexico with no type of restriction. Same system at the Otay Mesa crossing in San Diego and in Mexicali they didn´t even have a Red light/Green light system just a couple of Custom agents and pólice walking around near the turnstiles where you enter sometimes.


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## buzzbar (Feb 9, 2013)

AlanMexicali said:


> For decades at the San Ysidro crossing when you entered Mexico they had a Red light/Green light button on the sidewalk with a table set up with a Customs officer or two on a stool but nobody bothered to push the button so literally anyone entering simply walked into Mexico with no type of restriction.


Haha, you brought back memories of when I crossed to Tijuana about ten years ago. I was amazed to see that the red light/green light thingy was *literally* completely covered with cobwebs. Looked like no one had gone near it for years and anyone brave enough to press the button would have been risking a spider bite!

Will be interesting to see what they "review" at the border, expecially since the INM boss quoted doesn't even mention FMMs, only US Passports. Will INM record information or will they just wave someone thru who shows a passport? What checking, if any, will be done? What will it be checked against (given INM can only access USA criminal and warrant info by going thru the International Liaison Unit of the Baja California State Police.) 

The aim of last year's abandoned process mentioned in the article was to "manage who is entering the country, and keep out sex offenders and criminals who are seeking refuge.” Is this new 'reviewing' intended to contribute towards achieving this? If so, how will it do it?

Would have been nice if the reporter had bothered to ask a few of these obvious q's and include the answers in the article, but I guess all will be revealed in a matter of weeks!


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## HolyMole (Jan 3, 2009)

Meritorious-MasoMenos said:


> From what I remember crossing by foot or car, because Mexico has a huge number of Americans who cross into the border areas only for a few hours, it figured it made no sense to check them into the country officially. Mexico therefore set up a series of border stops just outside the frontier region and stops cars and buses at those checkpoints.
> 
> Back in the pre-9-11 days, I think even U.S. border agents waved through obviously American people re-entering the U.S. It used to be that way as well on the Canadian border, for example at Niagra Falls. Plenty of Americans went over the border only to go under and behind the falls, reachable only from the Canadian side. Pre-911, the guards only asked you where you were born, and waved through those who said born in the U.S. without checking papers (and I imagine Canadians as well).


Pre 9-11, on bus trips full of seniors from Canada going down for a week of fun in Reno, at the US border the US officer would mount a couple of steps into the bus and yell: "Are you all Canadian citizens?" - and fifty-two seniors would yell back "Yes" - and we'd proceed into the US. 
Post 9-11, we all have to troop out of the bus, go into the US Customs & Immigration building and all be questioned by an Immigration Officer, while a Customs agent, dressed (ridiculously, in my opinion) for combat, gets all the luggage pulled out from under the bus, and chooses a bag or two at random to be opened. Then, when we've all wasted 30-45 minutes, we proceed into the US. If there was ever a situation where "profiling" was called-for, this is one.


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