how is the border san diego tijuana??

Question

i heard you can walk or drive to tj and there is not really a mexican border patrol. so how does it work??? you just go through?? mexicans don't care about who is entering??? how does it look like???is a gate??? and where is the US patrol??

Answer 1

Ok, I used to work there. Here's the low-down.

The port of entry that you're referring to is the San Ysidro Port of Entry. They port is quite large with several southbound lanes and Mexico maintains a customs service on their side. If you choose to drive into Tijuana from San Diego then you will be inspected by Mexican Customs and immigration. If you choose to walk across scroll down.

As you approach the port on Interstate 5 there is a large sign over the roadway just north of the border that says "Last U.S. Exit". Leave the interstate there and you can easily find parking. If you park at a lot some distance away there are shuttle's to take you to the port but you can find closer parking. From here you go to the pedestrian entry that is located on the west side of the San Ysidro POE. You can walk across there with little or no inspection. Typically everyone with the intent to immigrate is leaving Mexico so they have little worry of a pedestrian trying to immigrate to Mexico illegally. However, it does happen.

There isn't a gate per se but there is a turn-style.

As to your other question.... The U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers are posted in the northbound lanes and in the pedestrian walkway to screen vehicles and pedestrians entering into or returning to the United States. The Border Patrol, a different agency, conducts static watch operations and roving patrols in between the ports of entry so you'll probably be able to spot a few marked units from the walkway.