Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

A virtually wall-less border crossing

San Ysidro's Sentri lane changes at least one life

“I am immortal. I got my Sentri card,” posted Erick Mark Cavadas on his Facebook feed in early December.

“Don't get too excited, the sentri lane has been sucking,” replied a girl that I did not know. (She was speaking of the Sentri car lane, which is different than the pedestrian lane.)

Erick, like me and thousands of other workers, lives in Tijuana and crosses to get to his job at a law firm in San Diego every morning. I used to see Erick early, standing in line nearby, looking miserable and tired. Then I started to see him strolling with a smile on his face to the front of the line.

Slowly moving under the new shelter, these crossers have about an hourlong wait

In December, which is usually a month of heavy border traffic, the Sentri car-lane wait was almost a full hour. Users are accustomed to never wait more than 20 minutes by car (or no minutes by foot). The congestion was going on while those in the regular lane and Ready Lane suffered for more than two hours. However, this is a huge improvement. In December of 2013, the car-lane wait could be over four hours. Since the opening of new border lanes, the border wait has not passed the four-hour mark. A two-hour wait is, hopefully, as bad as it will be for a long time.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The pedestrian lane in San Ysidro was also improved in late November. Border activist Monica Schroeder, with her nonprofit Tijuana Te Quiero, was instrumental in getting rid of the old metallic roof and having it replaced with a white tarp shelter donated by the San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce.

Demolition of La Concha

More improvements are planned for both car lanes and pedestrian lanes. The east side shell of the architectural landmark known as La Concha has been demolished, despite historians’ efforts to try and save the building (Puerta Mexico); its demise will allow for more car lanes to be opened. A new pedestrian path into Mexico was mentioned several times last year, but as yet there are no major signs that this will be occurring soon.

Those who have Sentri cards are spoiled; waiting of any sort becomes unbearable. I remember my roommate's girlfriend's reaction when she lost her Sentri pass last summer. There was a two-hour wait line on a Saturday afternoon and she had to get back to San Diego. She walked to the front of the line to tell the Border Patrol officer that she had a Sentri but it had been stolen; the officer sent her to the back of the line. She came back to the apartment in tears, cursing the line.

I had an appointment for my Sentri card interview on December 8, after passing the background check a month earlier. Everyone I knew who had a card told me that if I passed my background check I was in the clear; still, I was nervous.

The interview was at the San Ysidro border crossing, in a small room with a couple of officers behind a desk and other interviewees sitting across from them.

I saw a woman in her 40s get rejected because of a misdemeanor she had. They told her to wait until ten years have passed from when she committed the crime.

My interview was short and sweet. It started with the officer taking a picture with a webcam, which he pointed at me swiftly, resulting in an awkward lopsided profile of my face. After taking my picture and my fingerprints, the interview consisted of him asking my reasons for needing a pass, information about myself, my family, and my past, proof of income, proof of residence, and a reminder of how serious border crossing is.

With the interview finalized, I asked, “Does this mean I got my Sentri pass?” “It means that you are in a very good position to get your Sentri,” replied the officer. He gave my papers to a secretary, who charged $97.25 on my debit card ($14.50 for fingerprint fee, $82.75 for the document). My pass was due to arrive seven to ten business days upon approval; it did, on day eight.

I crossed the border in the first half of December on early mornings by foot without a Sentri pass, waiting in line an average of an hour and a half. Since getting my card, I have not waited more than a minute to cross.

The feeling is like being able to walk through walls.

If you don't want to worry about crossing the border for the next five years, getting a Sentri pass costs $122.25. If you cross by car, you also have to register your vehicle. There is also a Global Entry pass: it is similar to Sentri, but it works for any U.S. port of entry, while Sentri only works on limited land crossings between the U.S. and Mexico.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Angry Pete’s goes from pop-up to drive-thru

Detroit Pizza sidles into the husk of a shuttered Taco Bell

“I am immortal. I got my Sentri card,” posted Erick Mark Cavadas on his Facebook feed in early December.

“Don't get too excited, the sentri lane has been sucking,” replied a girl that I did not know. (She was speaking of the Sentri car lane, which is different than the pedestrian lane.)

Erick, like me and thousands of other workers, lives in Tijuana and crosses to get to his job at a law firm in San Diego every morning. I used to see Erick early, standing in line nearby, looking miserable and tired. Then I started to see him strolling with a smile on his face to the front of the line.

Slowly moving under the new shelter, these crossers have about an hourlong wait

In December, which is usually a month of heavy border traffic, the Sentri car-lane wait was almost a full hour. Users are accustomed to never wait more than 20 minutes by car (or no minutes by foot). The congestion was going on while those in the regular lane and Ready Lane suffered for more than two hours. However, this is a huge improvement. In December of 2013, the car-lane wait could be over four hours. Since the opening of new border lanes, the border wait has not passed the four-hour mark. A two-hour wait is, hopefully, as bad as it will be for a long time.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The pedestrian lane in San Ysidro was also improved in late November. Border activist Monica Schroeder, with her nonprofit Tijuana Te Quiero, was instrumental in getting rid of the old metallic roof and having it replaced with a white tarp shelter donated by the San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce.

Demolition of La Concha

More improvements are planned for both car lanes and pedestrian lanes. The east side shell of the architectural landmark known as La Concha has been demolished, despite historians’ efforts to try and save the building (Puerta Mexico); its demise will allow for more car lanes to be opened. A new pedestrian path into Mexico was mentioned several times last year, but as yet there are no major signs that this will be occurring soon.

Those who have Sentri cards are spoiled; waiting of any sort becomes unbearable. I remember my roommate's girlfriend's reaction when she lost her Sentri pass last summer. There was a two-hour wait line on a Saturday afternoon and she had to get back to San Diego. She walked to the front of the line to tell the Border Patrol officer that she had a Sentri but it had been stolen; the officer sent her to the back of the line. She came back to the apartment in tears, cursing the line.

I had an appointment for my Sentri card interview on December 8, after passing the background check a month earlier. Everyone I knew who had a card told me that if I passed my background check I was in the clear; still, I was nervous.

The interview was at the San Ysidro border crossing, in a small room with a couple of officers behind a desk and other interviewees sitting across from them.

I saw a woman in her 40s get rejected because of a misdemeanor she had. They told her to wait until ten years have passed from when she committed the crime.

My interview was short and sweet. It started with the officer taking a picture with a webcam, which he pointed at me swiftly, resulting in an awkward lopsided profile of my face. After taking my picture and my fingerprints, the interview consisted of him asking my reasons for needing a pass, information about myself, my family, and my past, proof of income, proof of residence, and a reminder of how serious border crossing is.

With the interview finalized, I asked, “Does this mean I got my Sentri pass?” “It means that you are in a very good position to get your Sentri,” replied the officer. He gave my papers to a secretary, who charged $97.25 on my debit card ($14.50 for fingerprint fee, $82.75 for the document). My pass was due to arrive seven to ten business days upon approval; it did, on day eight.

I crossed the border in the first half of December on early mornings by foot without a Sentri pass, waiting in line an average of an hour and a half. Since getting my card, I have not waited more than a minute to cross.

The feeling is like being able to walk through walls.

If you don't want to worry about crossing the border for the next five years, getting a Sentri pass costs $122.25. If you cross by car, you also have to register your vehicle. There is also a Global Entry pass: it is similar to Sentri, but it works for any U.S. port of entry, while Sentri only works on limited land crossings between the U.S. and Mexico.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema
Next Article

Didja know I did the first American feature on Jimi Hendrix?

Richard Meltzer goes through the Germs, Blue Oyster Cult, Ray Charles, Elvis, Lavender Hill Mob
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.