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This is my own personal experience, and who knows maybe it's not at all the experience of others. I used to cross at San Ysidro frequently, and would get pulle

This is my own personal experience, and who knows maybe it's not at all the experience of others. I used to cross at San Ysidro frequently, and would get pulled into secondary maybe 1/4 of the time. This is extremely common if you're crossing the land border alone, and you don't 'look Mexican.' Even if you don't get pulled into secondary, they're extremely unpleasant to deal with. I don't think I ever came across a border patrol agent during that time who didn't appear to be actively going out of their way to be mean. They don't even pretend to be welcoming or polite. They are there to make you feel small and under pressure, and in that process they are looking for any excuse to pull you into secondary. They know that you have zero power in that situation. Just try using the bathroom after sitting in the border line for 3 hours and then getting pulled into secondary and sitting in your car for an hour waiting for them to show up with a drug dog. The Mexicans will sort of do something similar. I've been flagged by their secondary before, but they are always extremely polite. Even the soldiers in fatigues with FALs are pretty nice guys in my experience. I think there is something in the training and recruitment of US CBP that is incredibly broken. As an American, everytime I cross the border back into my own country I am deeply ashamed.

fred_is_fred 6y ago
Can someone correct this if it's just conjecture? I've always been told that they are making you feel small and under pressure specifically to look for reactions that might indicate you are hiding something. I am not condoning this, just wondering if it's true.
- phobosanomaly 6y ago
  I've been looking around. I can't find a specific source or training document that would indicate it so far. I think it's a really interesting question. I do have an anecdote that may help shed some light. I was coming back from dinner in Tijuana one evening with a friend who happened to be asian. We pulled up to the border crossing and handed over our passports. After calling my friend a 'banana,' the agent then asked us why we would visit a 'garbage dump' when we could go to Balboa Park instead. We were totally shocked. I got the feeling with many of the CBP agents I interacted with that they had a really distorted image of Mexico. Thus, anyone who goes there and isn't from there is probably up to no good. And if you're from there.......... Edit: I'm stereotyping based on my own experiences. Again, maybe I've had bad luck. I don't mean to imply that all CBP agents are bad folks.
rudiv 6y ago
I crossed the border at San Ysidro on foot a couple times when living in San Diego. I found it entirely predictable that the CBP 'cops' were generally rude and off-putting. I was pleasantly surprised to find the Mexican military officers were not constantly scowling and didn't point their weapons at me when I accidentally took a left into their facility instead of turning right to walk onto the streets of Tijuana (they tried Spanish first, presumably because I'm brown, but then asked me politely in English to turn around and go the other way). The only thing that really surprised me was that my friend was able to return to the United States without any documentation after losing his wallet. Then again, he was a white kid with a Louisville accent. Like he said, "Not a hard decision for them which side of the border I should be on". I was scared shitless of losing my passport and I-20 the whole time I was there, being a non-citizen. I found the Mexican officers' demeanor to be similar to the German federal officers one sees in German airports; not constantly smiling (except perhaps at children), but if you cross glance with them they'll usually smile & acknowledge you. Also as with most people surrounded by foreigners they'll definitely smile if you say something nice in their language.
- vidanay 6y ago
  I have been in airports and customs from China to Germany and pretty much only in the United States are the security personnel (generic term) looking like they have a hot pepper up their ass.
newen 6y ago
Even the border agents at the bridge at Niagara Falls are rude, unfriendly, and unprofessional. Their counterparts on the Canadian side were always friendly and professional.

fred_is_fred 6y ago

Can someone correct this if it's just conjecture? I've always been told that they are making you feel small and under pressure specifically to look for reactions that might indicate you are hiding something. I am not condoning this, just wondering if it's true.

phobosanomaly 6y ago
I've been looking around. I can't find a specific source or training document that would indicate it so far. I think it's a really interesting question. I do have an anecdote that may help shed some light. I was coming back from dinner in Tijuana one evening with a friend who happened to be asian. We pulled up to the border crossing and handed over our passports. After calling my friend a 'banana,' the agent then asked us why we would visit a 'garbage dump' when we could go to Balboa Park instead. We were totally shocked. I got the feeling with many of the CBP agents I interacted with that they had a really distorted image of Mexico. Thus, anyone who goes there and isn't from there is probably up to no good. And if you're from there.......... Edit: I'm stereotyping based on my own experiences. Again, maybe I've had bad luck. I don't mean to imply that all CBP agents are bad folks.

rudiv 6y ago

I crossed the border at San Ysidro on foot a couple times when living in San Diego. I found it entirely predictable that the CBP 'cops' were generally rude and off-putting. I was pleasantly surprised to find the Mexican military officers were not constantly scowling and didn't point their weapons at me when I accidentally took a left into their facility instead of turning right to walk onto the streets of Tijuana (they tried Spanish first, presumably because I'm brown, but then asked me politely in English to turn around and go the other way). The only thing that really surprised me was that my friend was able to return to the United States without any documentation after losing his wallet. Then again, he was a white kid with a Louisville accent. Like he said, "Not a hard decision for them which side of the border I should be on". I was scared shitless of losing my passport and I-20 the whole time I was there, being a non-citizen. I found the Mexican officers' demeanor to be similar to the German federal officers one sees in German airports; not constantly smiling (except perhaps at children), but if you cross glance with them they'll usually smile & acknowledge you. Also as with most people surrounded by foreigners they'll definitely smile if you say something nice in their language.

vidanay 6y ago
I have been in airports and customs from China to Germany and pretty much only in the United States are the security personnel (generic term) looking like they have a hot pepper up their ass.

newen 6y ago

Even the border agents at the bridge at Niagara Falls are rude, unfriendly, and unprofessional. Their counterparts on the Canadian side were always friendly and professional.