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Interstate 5 Border Crossing Changes

Started by andy3175, June 04, 2012, 09:01:42 PM

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cpzilliacus

Quote from: agentsteel53 on June 21, 2012, 01:41:17 PMfurthermore, border patrol has been known to operate as far north as Needles, 200 miles north of Mexico.

I've seen the U.S. Border Patrol working in Washington, D.C. (and not near the DHS headquarters). 

Several times, I have seen them (apparently) checking passengers on arriving Greyhound buses at the Washington, D.C. bus station on First Street, N.E.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.


realjd

Quote from: cpzilliacus on June 21, 2012, 10:27:38 PM
Quote from: agentsteel53 on June 21, 2012, 01:41:17 PMfurthermore, border patrol has been known to operate as far north as Needles, 200 miles north of Mexico.

I've seen the U.S. Border Patrol working in Washington, D.C. (and not near the DHS headquarters). 

Several times, I have seen them (apparently) checking passengers on arriving Greyhound buses at the Washington, D.C. bus station on First Street, N.E.

CBP is allowed to operate (i.e. stop and question people at random) within 100 miles of US borders, which include coastlines. DC is inside of that zone. You'll see them at bus and Amtrak stations at most big cities inside of that zone.

The last time I was in PR, they were in the jetway asking the citizenship of every person boarding the flight back to the mainland. I don't know if that's common on flights from PR but I thought it unusual for a domestic flight. Usually it's the TSA harassing folks at the jetway.

My opinions are stronger on US checkpoints. When in a foreign country like Mexico, you follow their rules. Inland checkpoints there don't bother me there.

agentsteel53

Quote from: realjd on June 21, 2012, 11:54:54 PMI saw a CBP cop running radar (my radar detector lit up) down in the Keys last year. Why CBP would be enforcing speeding laws is beyond me.

I've seen that on I-15 near the Temecula checkpoint, about 70mi north of San Diego.
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

agentsteel53

Quote from: realjd on June 21, 2012, 11:54:54 PM

CBP is allowed to operate (i.e. stop and question people at random) within 100 miles of US borders, which include coastlines.

explain Needles, then.

assuming that "stop and question people at random" is not a violation of the fourth amendment, and that asking for one's citizenship (and, if not "US", asking for one's papers) is not eerily like East Germany.
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

cpzilliacus

Quote from: agentsteel53 on June 22, 2012, 01:00:12 PM
Quote from: realjd on June 21, 2012, 11:54:54 PM

CBP is allowed to operate (i.e. stop and question people at random) within 100 miles of US borders, which include coastlines.

explain Needles, then.

assuming that "stop and question people at random" is not a violation of the fourth amendment, and that asking for one's citizenship (and, if not "US", asking for one's papers) is not eerily like East Germany.

It is like the former East Germany (good riddance) and, for that matter, the former Soviet Union.

If there is a Hell (and I am not convinced of same), then I hope that the East German puppet leadership (Ulbricht and Honecker) are enjoying eternity with their former boss Joe Stalin, and with fellow puppet Nicolae Ceausescu.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

vdeane

As much as I loathe the idea of interior checkpoints, I'm starting to think that the US and Canada should adopt this system after watching some YouTube videos of the Mexican border and being shocked at the lack of border controls for those with nothing to declare entering the border zone.  It would really solve a LOT of traffic problems at places such as Niagara Falls as well as the Derby Lane issue (as well as the Seaway Bridge/Cornwall issue), and would have the side effect of killing all proposals for I-98 (due to ON 401).
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

rschen7754

Needles is an agriculture checkpoint, not a border crossing checkpoint.

sdmichael

Quote from: realjd on June 21, 2012, 01:29:21 PM
Quote from: deanej on June 20, 2012, 10:20:04 AM
With the frontier/interior zones, doesn't that mean that Mexican citizens essentially have to go through customs to stay within their own country if the want to head deeper in?  That must limit roadgeeking opportunities if you have to explain yourself to the government every time you cross into the interior.

US Citizens living in places along the Mexican border like San Diego, Yuma, and El Paso have to pass through similar inland CBP checkpoints also to head farther into the US. If you're obviously American they usually just wave you on (sometimes asking citizenship), but it's not unheard of to get your car thoroughly searched.

Last I checked, we aren't supposed to "show our papers" traveling around. I tire of being harassed by the border patrol when I haven't even traversed any major political boundaries. It isn't any of their business where I'm going, where I am coming from, or what citizenship I have. It either boils down to racial profiling (bad) or harasment of US citizens (just as bad). Sad there is no big outcry that US citizens (and non-citizens alike) are harassed daily by Federal officers. Sure a big outcry when there is some "gun control" bill... yet none for the erosion of rights. I think about that every time I travel through the checkpoint on I-5 in Camp Pendelton. Here I am... surrounded by people that are supposedly protecting our freedom... going through a place that erodes that very freedom.

agentsteel53

Quote from: rschen7754 on November 23, 2013, 09:46:51 PM
Needles is an agriculture checkpoint, not a border crossing checkpoint.

tell that to the border patrol vehicles which are camped there.
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

J N Winkler

Quote from: vdeane on June 10, 2012, 01:06:06 PMHaving never been anywhere near Mexico, I don't know the exact dynamics, but I've read that you can't move between many of the border crossings without passing through a Mexican interior checkpoint, where it's illegal to travel without a temporary import permit for your vehicle.  It's also illegal to leave Mexico with a temporary import permit, and they can't be surrendered at the border either, but at special offices that aren't near all crossings.  It's a bureaucratic mess.

It's over a year late, but now that this thread has been bumped, I'd like to address a few of these points.

*  It is not actually illegal to leave Mexico with a valid Mexican temporary vehicle importation. You are free to cross the border (both external and internal) multiple times during the validity period.  What actually causes trouble is not to cancel the importation in Mexico before it expires.  If you fail to do this, the assumption is that you have sold the car illegally in Mexico and it then becomes liable for confiscation as contraband (and you presumably also become liable to fines) the next time you enter Mexico with it and attempt to clear customs with it.

*  To the best of my knowledge, we (the members of AARoads that have travelled in Mexico by private passenger car and have experience with the temporary vehicle importation process) have not actually confirmed that it is impossible to travel parallel to the land border for its entire length without being stopped and turned back at an internal frontier checkpoint.  We only suspect that this is the case, based on known locations of such checkpoints.  Unless you make a special project of mapping checkpoints along the entire border, you have to guess at the location of places where temporary vehicle importation permits can be cancelled, and the guesses you make must be conservative unless you are willing to risk sixty miles or even more of out-of-the-way travel looking for a place to cancel a permit before you return to the US for good.

*  Permits can be issued and returned at any frontier checkpoint facility that has a Banjercito module.  (Banjercito--an acronym for Banco de Ejercito = "Army Bank"--is the designated agent for the financial component of temporary vehicle importation.)  Sometimes this is right at the border (as at Ojinaga), and sometimes this is at the km 30 internal frontier checkpoint (as at Nogales and Juárez).  Guidebooks (e.g. the AAA Mexico TourBook) state vaguely that "some major" crossings have Banjercito modules right at the border; they never state the precise locations of Banjercito modules in the vicinity of any crossing.  It has been my impression in general that Banjercito modules are fairly footloose, since they tend to be housed in prefab buildings (Portakabins and the like) rather than being integrated into the permanent checkpoint structures.  What all this means is that you can't count on redundancy in Banjercito module provision in the vicinity of any border crossing.  Therefore, if you intend to return to the US permanently and choose to pass a km 30 module without stopping, you are gambling that there will be a module right at the border that you can use.  I rolled the dice this way in the Juárez vicinity when I was returning from my first Mexico trip in 2002, and came up snake eyes--I wanted to return my permit at Santa Teresa but found no module there and had to backtrack to the Juárez km 30 checkpoint.
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini

Mdcastle

Speaking of checkpoints, what do the agricultural checkpoints actually do. I had visions of being hassled because I had some plant material in the car (some redwood pine cones I had picked up as a souvenir) but on the I-5 northern checkpoint they were just waiving everyone through. Did it help that I had California plates- would I be singled out for attention if I drove my own car with Minnesota plates all the way there?

The High Plains Traveler

Quote from: Mdcastle on December 18, 2013, 10:39:56 AM
Speaking of checkpoints, what do the agricultural checkpoints actually do. I had visions of being hassled because I had some plant material in the car (some redwood pine cones I had picked up as a souvenir) but on the I-5 northern checkpoint they were just waiving everyone through. Did it help that I had California plates- would I be singled out for attention if I drove my own car with Minnesota plates all the way there?
They are looking for importation of any of a number of fruits and vegetables in the hope of intercepting agricultural pests. The standard questions are: "Where are you coming from?" and "Do you have any fruits or vegetables?" I saw them open up the back of a truck in front of me, possibly standard practice for a commercial vehicle. On the occasions I've driven through there, I have been pulling my travel trailer; obviously a potential motherlode of medfly-infested oranges and other nefarious critters. The first time (knowing of these checkpoints), I had brought my vegetables up into the cab of our truck and showed them to the agent, and he let us through without delay. The second time, the agent was on a phone call and waved us through. So, I guess I would infer from this limited experience that they concentrate on commercial vehicles potentially carrying agricultural products, though the driver of a passenger car, regardless of the registration, may at least be asked the questions above.
"Tongue-tied and twisted; just an earth-bound misfit, I."

J N Winkler

Quote from: Mdcastle on December 18, 2013, 10:39:56 AMSpeaking of checkpoints, what do the agricultural checkpoints actually do.

To add to High Plains Traveler's comments, their concern is primarily about wholesale agricultural goods and animals (including ferrets) that are considered agricultural pests in California.  The first time I drove through a California agricultural inspection station and was asked whether I was carrying any fruit or vegetables, I said "No" around a mouthful of carrot, with the rest of the carrot in my fingers and other carrots in a bag in the front passenger seat.  I was waved through.

Some people have observed Border Patrol vehicles parked near agricultural inspection stations in California, including ones such as the one on I-40 at Needles which are over 100 miles from the border and so are outside the border search zone where special rules apply.  The speculation (so far not explicitly confirmed) is that the Border Patrol officers monitor vehicles passing through the agricultural inspection stations in hopes of observing something that would give the Border Patrol reasonable suspicion for stopping them for immigration violations further down the road.
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini

agentsteel53

Quote from: J N Winkler on December 18, 2013, 11:57:48 AM

Some people have observed Border Patrol vehicles parked near agricultural inspection stations in California, including ones such as the one on I-40 at Needles which are over 100 miles from the border and so are outside the border search zone where special rules apply.  The speculation (so far not explicitly confirmed) is that the Border Patrol officers monitor vehicles passing through the agricultural inspection stations in hopes of observing something that would give the Border Patrol reasonable suspicion for stopping them for immigration violations further down the road.

there's something about that which just feels wrong, even though apparently it is all legal according to the letter of the law.
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

Alps

Quote from: Mdcastle on December 18, 2013, 10:39:56 AM
Speaking of checkpoints, what do the agricultural checkpoints actually do. I had visions of being hassled because I had some plant material in the car (some redwood pine cones I had picked up as a souvenir) but on the I-5 northern checkpoint they were just waiving everyone through. Did it help that I had California plates- would I be singled out for attention if I drove my own car with Minnesota plates all the way there?
They wave through white guys.

Occidental Tourist

Quote from: J N Winkler on December 18, 2013, 11:57:48 AM
Quote from: Mdcastle on December 18, 2013, 10:39:56 AMSpeaking of checkpoints, what do the agricultural checkpoints actually do.

To add to High Plains Traveler's comments, their concern is primarily about wholesale agricultural goods and animals (including ferrets) that are considered agricultural pests in California.  The first time I drove through a California agricultural inspection station and was asked whether I was carrying any fruit or vegetables, I said "No" around a mouthful of carrot, with the rest of the carrot in my fingers and other carrots in a bag in the front passenger seat.  I was waved through.

F-ing awesome.

andy3175

The Interstate 5 San Ysidro Port of Entry project continues. The main project webpage is at http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/105703. The project phases, some of which are complete and others still pending, are currently defined as follows:

Phase 1A: Pedestrian Bridge — Completed April 2011

Phase 1B: Northbound Vehicular Inspection — Completed December 2014

Phase 1C: Southbound Pedestrian Crossing — Completed August 2012

Phase 1D: Western Pedestrian Facility — Summer 2016

Phase 2: Administration and Pedestrian Building — Fall 2019

Phase 3: I-5 North and Southbound Inspection Facilities — Fall 2018

Virginia Avenue Transportation Center — Summer 2016

Some recent media articles have discussed the major changes at the border crossing, including http://laprensa-sandiego.org/stories/border-crossing-modernization/, which describes the sheer magnitude of travel lanes for queueing for inspection:

QuoteIn November, 2014, the first phase of the modernization of the San Ysidro POE was inaugurated, consisting of expanding to 25 northbound lanes with 46 tandem booths — and the construction of a new Customs and Border Protection (CBP) administrative building — in order to reduce border wait times to 15-40 minutes. This goal was achieved during the first three months of operation after the expansion, however, wait times are once again on the rise. The remaining phases are expected to be concluded by 2018. The overall modernization project consists of three phases: phase one was the primary and secondary inspection facilities, the administration building, and the San Ysidro bridge; phase two will be the construction of a new northbound pedestrian crossing; and phase 3 will connect I-5 directly to the El Chaparral southbound facilities, as well as invert the old southbound lanes and add them to the 25 existing northbound lanes to reach a total of 33 lanes.

According to a General Services Administration (GSA) study, more than 50,000 vehicles cross through San Ysidro each day, and that number is expected to grow by up to 87% by 2030. Because more than 18 million vehicles and 8 million pedestrians cross through this POE each year, reducing border wait times has become a priority for both Californias. The San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce has stated that these border wait times cost San Diego County $7 million a year in losses.

The pedestrian port of entry (Virginia Ave) will also be significantly different too: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2015/aug/08/stringers-san-ysidro-border-pedestrian-booths/

QuoteSan Ysidro, however, will already receive a Pedestrian West Facility and a Virginia Avenue Transit Center in Summer 2016. Located adjacent to the Las Americas Outlet Mall, the GSA already unveiled designs for the Pedestrian West Facility back in May 2014. At the time, community members said it looked like a "road stop bathroom."  The GSA presented the same design at The Front, this time without public comment. The Pedestrian West facility will have ten northbound and two reversible pedestrian inspection booths.

The GSA also unveiled the new transit center artist renderings, which will accommodate four buses, ten taxis, 18 parking-only vehicles, and five pedicabs.

A few of these renderings are at the above link, or you can see them at the following links:

Environmental Review: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/105527

General Renderings: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/173239

Building: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/mediaId/167235/fileName/San_Ysidro_Fact_Sheet_-_July_2015.action

Virginia Ave Pedestrian Crossing: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/mediaId/231975/fileName/Virginia_Avenue_Fact_Sheet_(1).action
Regards,
Andy

www.aaroads.com



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