Tips at the Border

handsup68 · Cholo Nako Joined: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 15 Votes: 1

Brothers and Sisters,

I haven’t visited this website as much as I used to, but I wanted to take a little time to share some ideas with you. After all, what’s the main purpose of this website? We share our experiences with one another in effort to (hopefully) learn from one another. Anyhow, to my story.

I am a CBP Officer. I work at the downtown Calexico POE. The port is a hotbed of conversation around the valley. I’m going to try and give you some info that may give you a little different perspective. I’m not trying to come off as a cocky know-it-all. I just want to share some info that you might not be aware of.

Do we, as CBP Officers, hate our jobs? I hear that a lot on this website. I’d have to say no. Most of us signed on to be public servants and ultimately make our community a better place. For me, I know that I still like to catch the bad guy. We do hate working for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS is celebrating its five year anniversary. My opinion is that we are no more secure as a nation based on any DHS program. DHS was created after a national tragedy. There was no need to create an entirely new federal department. All of the things could have been handled by the Treasury Department and Justice Department. The old Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was a fine agency. Nothing from 9/11 is to be blamed on INS. Immigration law has been exploited for years. Liberal Immigration Judges have perverted the system in favor of the bad guy. DHS has done nothing to change any of that. Billions of dollars have been wasted and nothing is really better.

DHS also has a fundamental flaw in its management style that is endorsed by the Bush administration. They appoint senior managers that have little or no law enforcement experience. These managers, in turn, make up policies that have no real practical application in the real world. When the troops at my level have to implement these ridiculous policies, we often times hear about it from you, the traveling public. We don’t like these policies. Our union is very active in fighting some of these ridiculous policies. DHS and CBP refuse to play by the rules that they established. Nonetheless, we have to do what we are ordered to do and try to fight it out later.

Another question we here: “If you hate DHS so much, why do you stay?” MONEY. Its not great at first, but not bad either, especially with overtime. But after you’re in for a few years, the money is hard to walk away from. The longer you stay, the more true this becomes. I’d say once you’re in for 5 years, you’re pretty much locked in. DHS has consistently ranked at the bottom of the pile of all federal agencies for employee morale. As a result, we’ve had some turnover. People young enough to start over again have left. This hurts us. If a guy quits tomorrow, it takes a year or more to replace him. The replacement has to pass a background investigation and pass the academy. Neither one is a given.

“Why is that officer such a prick all the time? I didn’t do anything to him and he treats me like a criminal.” I can’t speak for every officer. I will say this: officers are human and can have a bad day. Our union has been fighting with management for years now because DHS really treats its employees like shit. It’s not intentional, but sometimes we’ll take our frustrations out on you. Now, here’s the other side of the coin. I didn’t do anything except ask you 3 simple questions and I could see nothing but contempt for me in your eyes. The officer is not going to print your life story in the IV Press. Answer his questions. The sooner you do, the sooner you leave. You have the right to talk to a supervisor if you think your primary officer or secondary officer did something out of line. Don’t lie about what happened to try and get the officer in trouble. Almost every inch of the port is covered by camera and management does review the camera to see if the complaint has merit. I can tell you this: we have pretty thick skin and we take a lot more shit than we deserve.

One of the things that have the average valley resident so upset is the border wait times. Why does the line move so slowly? There are several reasons and I’ll try to hit the biggest ones.

1. We are supposed to name query 100% of all vehicle occupants. This is one of those DHS policies that does not make that much sense. Instead of 100% queries, the officer should be able to use his discretion. If I see your 2 year old in the car seat, I’m reasonably certain that the child hasn’t had too many run ins with the law. I shouldn’t have to check her for warrants. However, policy doesn’t allow me to use my experience to separate the 2 year old from the scum bag with prison tatoos. DHS policy is to treat them as equals. Your gramma who might not get around so good still needs to be queried to see if she’s wanted by the po po.

2. Now, since I just told you about having to query everyone’s name, picture this: the easiest way for me to enter your name and date of birth into the computer is if you have what’s called a machine readable document. If you have a passport or a green card, that’s the stuff on the bottom with all the <<<<<<<<<< symbols. When I have one of those I can enter your info into the computer in seconds. If not, I have to enter, one finger at a time, MARIA DEL CARMEN GUADALUPE RODRIGUEZ GONZALEZ and the date of birth. Multiply Maria times two, three, five or ten in one car. This will take time and there is really nothing we can do to speed this up.

3. I’m a U.S. citizen damn it! I don’t need to show you anything to return to MY COUNTRY. Yes, technically this is true. However, there is a program going on right now called the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. Many of you might have already seen some of the flyers that they were handing out at the port. Yeah, those blue and green info sheets that you threw away as soon as you left. Right now, in accordance with the initiative, you are required to bring proof that you are a U.S. citizen: Passport, birth certificate with a state issued photo ID, naturalization certificate, derived citizenship certificate, consular report of birth abroad, tribal ID card. A driver’s license by itself is only proof that you passed a driving test. You do not have to be a U.S. citizen to have a driver’s license and by itself, is not sufficient. Don’t argue about how you had to show the lady at the DMV your birth certificate when you got it. The DMV will accept different forms of ID from different people. The bottom line is that you do not have to be a U.S. citizen to get a driver’s license and nowhere on your license does it say what your citizenship is. Now, what happens if you forget to bring your stuff or simply refuse to comply? Not really anything, yet. The officer is going to give you lecture and a little bit of hard time in the hopes that you bring your proof next time. Eventually, there’s going to be a fine, but for now there is nothing. After he’s done, he’s going to let you go. NO. WE DO NOT HAVE A MAGIC COMPUTER TO VERIFY YOU ON THE SPOT. In all honesty, the U.S. citizens are probably the biggest reason the line moves so slow. Most Mexicans that live on both sides of the border have a document that is machine readable. Sometimes we are our own biggest problem.

4. This part will upset a few people so before I begin I will tell you that it is not my intent to upset or offend you. Here goes. If you have dark hair, tan skin, brown eyes, speak English with a heavy accent or with difficulty or not at all, and do not have proof of citizenship like I mentioned above, you might be delayed at the border. This will slow the line down. This is not racism, racial profiling, or a violation of your civil rights. It is an observation. Based on years of experience, several criminals and illegal aliens have been arrested down hear that fit that description. Does that mean that all Hispanics are criminals? No. We catch lots of white people and Asians down here too. A few blacks as well. But let’s face facts. There are more Hispanics in this area than any other ethnic group. If you fit this description in any way, do yourself a favor. Get yourself a passport and save yourself some grief.

5. We’ve had some new hires in the past few months and it will take a rookie a few months to settle in and get it together. He is not incompetent. He’s just not as experienced with the multitude of scenarios that unfold on a daily basis. The only way he gets better is to do the job. Sometimes, this will slow the line down. Cut him some slack.

6. If you’re in line and waiting to get to the booth:

a. Pay attention. When its time to move up, move up.

b. Get off the phone. Its probably the reason you didn’t
know it was time to move up.

c. Have your documents ready when you get there. You’re mad
because you spent all that time in line, but you waited
until you got to the booth to dig out your stuff. Come on.
If the officer at the booth has to sift through a stack of
documents where each page is turned every which way, this
will slow the line down. This is actually one of the bigger
reasons the line slows down. “But they didn’t ask for that
yesterday when I crossed.” So what? That doesn’t mean that
you shouldn’t have it ready every time you cross.

7. If your birth certificate or naturalization certificate looks like your dog ate it and then shit it out, what can I say? You hand the officer a certificate that is literally in pieces and you think it’s cool. It’s not cool. A new birth certificate will cost you anywhere from $8.00 to $20.00. You need it. Go get it. You can’t get your passport or passport card without it. Sorry to tell you that a new natz certificate is a lot more to replace. I think its about $320. If you’d have gotten a passport to cross the border to begin with and hung your natz certificate on the wall, we wouldn’t be talking about it now. Showing the officer one or more documents that looks like this will slow the line down.

8. If you don’t have a front license plate, this will slow the line down. California Vehicle Code requires you to display a front license place on the bumper. Not the dash. However, not many state and local police heavily enforce this. We have automatic plate readers that automatically enter the plate. However, these plate readers aren’t very good. The officer is still required to visually check the accuracy of the machine. If you drive a truck with a trailer ball and it blocks one or more of the numbers, it messes with the machine and it won’t read. If you have a plastic cover over the license plate, sometimes this messes with the plate reader. If you have a really cool frame that overlaps some of the numbers, sometimes that messes with the machine. The short and sweet of it is, this will slow the line down.

Let me try and explain this in a different way. Those of you that were in the military and had to stand inspection will understand. No matter what type of inspection: uniform, wall locker, equipment, office, shop. If your shit was squared away, the inspecting officer usually left you alone. If you were “tore up from the floor up,” he was on you like New River stink. Same sort of thing will apply at the border. If you’re squared away and have your stuff ready and answer the questions, the officer will clear you pretty quickly. If you don’t have your stuff ready or don’t have stuff at all, you’re not giving us much to work with. You might be delayed. Don’t get mad at me because you’re making my job harder. You are slowing the line down.

Those things are just a few of the things that slow the line down. Most of those things you can change. Right now the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative doesn’t have any teeth. Meaning it’s a lot of talk and chest thumping, but no real penalty yet. The only thing that will get peoples attention is a monetary fine. Take some money away, and people will eventually comply. Be advised, this is probably coming. You can argue about the legality of that all you want. But trust me, its probably coming. You can get the Ghost of Johnny Cochran to defend you when you go to court.

Like I said, I’m not trying to come off like a know it all, but if you saw half the shit we see at the border, you’d have a new appreciation of what we’re doing.

Don’t shoot the messenger.

elchrist · Posted: 05 May 2008 08:21 AM Post subject:

Thanks for taking the time to write this out. It's truly useful information and in practice would decrease the border queue significantly.

Unfortunately, most border crossers are not going to comply and the lines will continue to grow. That's just my opinion, so that's why I went ahead and opted for the SENTRI program.

I fear the SENTRI will eventually will become another long line as it gains in popularity though, so do you think you could put up a YouTube video demonstrating the tips above?

Props to Office Peyton: Role model CBP agent.

crazynegro · Posted: 05 May 2008 08:49 AM Post subject:

You sound like BP recruiter BP trying to get me to be a border brother chaser. That was funny. I understand were your coming from DHS guy but I'm entitled to my opinion as well. I think the majority of "of you guys" are a bunch of pricks. Especially the young ones. Listen, both my siblings are Federal Law Enforcement agents, and I'm a DoD civil service guy, yet we understand the politics of having INCOMPETENT UPPER MANAGEMENT making irrational decisions that affect people like us on the field. Yet, we have to live and oblige due to our contracts as Govt employees. I have shitty days at work and have to put up with assholes on the daily basis, but I'm not treating people like crap and mad dogging them. The majority of you guys do. Some of these kids shouldn't even posses a hand gun, as well as a freaking driver's license! That's one of my biggest beef's. Every single DHS border patrol agent drives around residential areas like there's no tomorrow! Not to mention during pursuits were it gets dangerous as hell! You guys are NOT NASCAR drivers for crying out loud! I respect your mission, vision and your goals, yet who policies the BP? Shouldn't you guys go through some quarterly screening like say...........a lie detector like most major Federal Law Enforcement Agencies do? You might be right about BP, Customs and INS were part of their respected Departments (Treasury and Justice), but you and I know, this DHS is a bag of horseshit! I believe in protecting our borders, what I don't agree is the majority of you guys acting like Pinchis yippie kay yeah John Wayne's! Wink

handsup68 · Cholo Nako Joined: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 15 Votes: 1

New computer system has bogged things down. The new security features make the officer log in twice. Usually takes at least two minutes to log in now. Over the course of the whole day, this is real time that is lost. Six to ten minutes every hour means 1.5 to 2 hours every day lost just to logging in. On top of that, the new computer runs a little slower because its processing more info. We've officially stopped being a law enforcement agency and become a statisic collection agency. Those that don't get their passports will be slowing things down even more because it takes longer to enter someones ID info into the computer if you don't have a machine readable document.

Depending on what time of day you cross, the regular line IS FASTER than the SENTRI line. Especially during the school year. SENTRI will not be getting an extra lane until the new port is built. Funding and environmental concerns have slowed the new port project way down because they want to build part of it over the New River. They're not sure if they can build over it safely and with that hill in the old cargo lot it will require a lot of "land fill" which is jacking up the cost.

Ordinarily the best times to cross downtown are:

3:00 pm to about 4:30 pm Monday - Friday

6:00 am to about 8:30 am on Saturdays.

Stay away on Sundays. Especially on 3 or 4 day weekends.

If Monday is a holiday, come back on Sunday and stay away on Monday.

The east port is usually under 30 minutes all day, everyday except Sundays. Sometimes it might be worth it (faster) to drive the extra 7 miles over and 7 miles back.

With the heat being as bad as it has been and the lines being as long as they are, we've seen a lot of cars overheating. This is an old trick that people don't think about very often. It sounds a little crazy but when you see the needle move over to the red zone, turn on your heater for a few minutes. Some people don't know that your heater heats your car using hot water from the engine. Your heater core is actually a small radiator and it holds a fair amount of water. That water remains uncirculated until you turn the heater on. You only need to run your heater for a few minutes for this to work.

A woman came through my lane the other day and I could hear her radiator bubbling it was so hot. She was a little worried about it. The needle had been in the red for a few minutes. I told her to turn on her heater. She looked at me funny but I told her to trust me and watch her needle. Within a minute, the needle went back into normal temperature. She was amazed and I was a hero.

This story won't make the IV Press and it won't make the line move faster, but it might save your engine.

elchrist · Posted: 08 Jul 2008 09:01 AM Post subject:

What's the ETA for the new POE?

And can you provide some details as to what it may offer to border crossers?

handsup68 · Cholo Nako Joined: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 15 Votes: 1

The plans call for a new POE to completely replace the existing downtown POE. Its supposed to have 16 lanes instead of the current 10 lanes.

Its my understanding that it will be built in phases. Phase one will be the largest because it will require the most work. It requires the removal of the current buildings (the main Customs House as well as that building on the right hand side of the road), significant land fill to level off that hill (which is on the other side of that building), and of course building the new Customs House.

Phase two would be the pedestrian building. Its my understanding that it will stay open during most of phase one so as not to interfere with workers, school kids, and daily shoppers that walk across. The new pedestrian area will have more than the current 4 primary possitions. I haven't heard a number on exactly how many. I'm not sure what they're going to do with the walkers when they start construction on this end.

Not sure when its all going to start. The New River has become a concern because the plans call for some of the new building to be built directly over it. I think they would like to dam it, cement line it in that area like a canal, and then let it flow freely again. Damming it for any length of time is a nightmare for Mexicali. So this has been the primary cause for the hold up.

In the short term, it will be a pain in the ass because all vehicle traffic will be diverted to the East POE. The East POE will not be expanding anytime soon. This will probably go on for a full year or more. Plus, anything we build on this side won't be ready until Mexico builds it on their side.

In the long run, it will be a much larger facility. However, its going to be a long road to get there.

elchrist · Posted: 08 Jul 2008 09:58 AM Post subject: Re: New POE

elchrist · Posted: 21 Jul 2008 08:38 AM Post subject:

Why can't the customs agent in the SENTRI lane smile, be courteous by saying "Welcome" and "Thank you," and be more professional?

You'd think that they'd treat paying customers better.

How does an agent get to man the SENTRI lane? Are they rewarded into the position or is it just random?

You'd think that's the cakest job outdoors since you're almost certain the vehicle crossing doesn't have any criminals, drugs, human smuggling, etc. Instead some get a power trip by threatening to take away your access for a minor infraction.

They should have Office Peyton man the SENTRI lane. He deserves it and makes paying a premium to cross even more worthwhile.

spic-ole · Posted: 21 Jul 2008 03:58 PM Post subject:

I don't know what the deal with any of the agents is. I just crossed a couple of hours ago and the immigration guy was a total dick.

I once spoke to a supervisor at customs, I was told that these agents were supposed to be kind and courteous, but they don't act that way because not enough people complain. The agents feel like they can just get away with it. A couple years back I tried to complain about one for being abrasive and rude, the supervisor in charge at the time refused to let me write a complaint (different supervisor). I had already been there long enough, so I just left.

Way too many power trips going on there.

Saca_Ranas · Posted: 21 Jul 2008 08:37 PM Post subject:

FTP

F#*^ Those Put()s