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shari
Select Nomad
Posts: 13048
Registered: 3-10-2006
Location: bahia asuncion, baja sur
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Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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I was completely appauled (sp?) at the US government's beaurocracy(sp?) regarding tourist visas for mexicans. I finally realized WHY there is such a
problem with illegals crossing the border...they arent' just crossing to work...they cross to see family as well. It was really sad and embarassing to
see how many were treated in the visa area of the consulate in TJ. I really dont' understand why so many honest working people with good jobs are
denied a tourist visa. We were lucky because I got to go into the interview with Juan & Sirena as she was underage and we were a family. They
didn't even talk to them and I just explained why we were going to the states. Plus they dont even tell you about the OTHER visa you need if you are
going further than san diego...this we only found out when crossing the border and had to wait another 2 hours in a line to get this paper....more
hassle and worry and stress and $. really sucks
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Baja&Back
Senior Nomad
Posts: 549
Registered: 9-10-2004
Location: Vancouver, Canada / todo de Baja
Member Is Offline
Mood: Rarin' to go South!
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FYI:
You can fly direct, non-stop from Cabo (SJC) to Vancouver BC with Westjet, a Canadian company, without ever touching ground in the US.
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Pescador
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3587
Registered: 10-17-2002
Location: Baja California Sur
Member Is Offline
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This thread has been very educational and yet frustrating. We keep learning just how broken the whole system is. People in the US are very
frustrated that the border is broken and people flood in the the US in a steady stream and yet the people who hae legitimate reason like tourism or
family or whatever can not get legal, easy access to entry. Somehow I can not bring myself to picture Oso's esposa carrying illegal arms and drugs
back and forth. So, lets punish the people who would come shopping and go to Disneyland and spend massive amounts of money, that will surely fix the
problem.
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DianaT
Select Nomad
Posts: 10020
Registered: 12-17-2004
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| Quote: | Originally posted by shari
I was completely appauled (sp?) at the US government's beaurocracy(sp?) regarding tourist visas for mexicans. I finally realized WHY there is such a
problem with illegals crossing the border...they arent' just crossing to work...they cross to see family as well. It was really sad and embarassing to
see how many were treated in the visa area of the consulate in TJ. I really dont' understand why so many honest working people with good jobs are
denied a tourist visa. We were lucky because I got to go into the interview with Juan & Sirena as she was underage and we were a family. They
didn't even talk to them and I just explained why we were going to the states. Plus they dont even tell you about the OTHER visa you need if you are
going further than san diego...this we only found out when crossing the border and had to wait another 2 hours in a line to get this paper....more
hassle and worry and stress and $. really sucks |
Sounds very much like what our friends in Guatemala said about the Mexicans. Our friends had good paying teaching jobs, owned homes, had families and
just wanted to attend an educational conference.
After spending weeks jumping through all the hoops---a real nightmare where they were treated quite rudely -- they were only granted 3 days to attend
a 5 day conference.
Maybe bad attitudes have something to do with working borders, immigration, customs, or otherwise. While we have been treated very well at several
borders in South, Central and North America, we have also met those who seem to hate their jobs and take it out on everyone else.
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3718
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
Member Is Offline
Mood: muy amable
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I raised four boys from The Door of Faith Orphanage in La Mision with my family in California.
I made a major effort to bring each of them here legally,
And in the end I let them all slide into "illegal" status, when I endured the trips to INS- San Francisco, and also back to the TJ consulate, the SY
border offices, etc.
It was not worth it, and in the end they all are US citizens, by various methods, but all legal.
Why bother to do it right, when obviously our own government does not want to help out in this situation.
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Desertsurfergal
Junior Nomad
Posts: 46
Registered: 1-30-2008
Location: Lake Havasu City, Az
Member Is Offline
Mood: wishful..for Baja
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To everyone, Wow!!! once again thank you for all of you inputs and "lessons" in this matter. I appreciate all of your stories and I am saddened by
some of the experiences you have gone through.
\"Life\'s a journey, not a destination...\" Aerosmith
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3718
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
Member Is Offline
Mood: muy amable
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"Sorry pal" - one more story
My wife sponsored her brother, Pedro, for citizenship.
File in 1989.
In 2005 he got a letter from INS- "You will be in Juarez, with your sponsor, one week from today"
Well, we were in Brazil on a mission trip and did not get word from Pedro until we arrived home, one day after the ultimatum date.
Phone calls, faxes, emails, letters, all in vain.
So, back down the list he went.
Last year he again got the letter, "one week.... etc."
So, we hustled up plane tix- he from San Diego, Teresa from SFO, and finally, he got his citizenship.
You call that justice?
I call it incredible bureaucratic insensitivity- dare I say total indifference!!!
(Those who decry "illegal crossings" may wish to take note of how the system really works..... actually how it does not work)
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Oso
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2637
Registered: 8-29-2003
Location: on da border
Member Is Offline
Mood: wait and see
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No Muslim extremists arrested here since 9/11
BY E. EDUARDO CASTILLO
Associated Press
Mexico says it has arrested 12 people on terrorism charges in the years since the Sept. 11 attack on the United States, but an official said none were
linked to Muslim extremist groups like al-Qaida nor were any planning to strike in the United States.
Officials from both nations say there hasn´t been any sign of the southern U.S. border becoming an entry point for terrorists, as had been feared
after the suicide jetliner hijackings that struck New York and Washington.
The Mexican government revealed the 12 arrests to The Associated Press this week in response to a public information request seeking details of any
terrorism arrests in the last seven years. The request was made in February.
Many Americans feared Islamic terrorists from al-Qaida might try to slip into the United States by linking up with the criminal gangs and drug cartels
that control large swaths of Mexico and smuggle drugs and migrants across the border.
Months after the 2001 attack, U.S. President George W. Bush pushed Mexico to increase security. "We need to use our technology to make sure that we
weed out those who we don´t want in our country, the terrorists, the `coyotes,´ the smugglers, those that prey on innocent life," he said.
Asked whether Mexico´s 12 terrorism arrests were linked to plots against the United States, an official at the Attorney General´s Office said none
"had anything to do with that."
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she wasn´t authorized to be quoted by name, said those detained had links to Basque
militants in Spain or were involved in radical domestic activities in Mexico.
U.S. Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said Friday the United States continually works with Mexico to ensure terrorists don´t turn to Mexico,
and so far there is no evidence that has happened.
"There´s no indication that there´s been a direct al-Qaida presence in Mexico," he said. "But there certainly have been individuals that present
security concerns."
He wouldn´t elaborate, but one of the U.S. government´s recent worries has been smuggling networks moving East African migrants through Latin America
and into the United States. Two such smugglers operating in Mexico and Belize were arrested last year.
DRUG THREAT
In a speech Wednesday on international terrorism threats, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the biggest threat in Mexico is
likely the powerful drug trade, in which gangs target both police and civilians and often behead their enemies.
"These enterprises may currently be criminal enterprises, but we cannot rule out the possibility in the future that they may take on a more political
coloration," he said.
The United States has dramatically increased border security, adding fencing and border agents and monitoring more closely those who cross at border
stations. Mexico also has become much more vigilant of foreigners entering both legally and illegally.
Many people from Muslim countries now have trouble getting visas to visit Mexico, and officials have arrested dozens of Christian Iraqis who left
their homeland and tried to sneak into California through Mexico.
Thomas Sanderson, deputy director of the transnational threats project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said al-Qaida usually
sends its members through Europe because citizens of those countries can enter U.S. territory without a visa.
"We are more likely to see people come in through airplanes," he said.
He also doubts Qaida operatives would expose themselves to organized crime or smuggling groups in Mexico. "They´d be concerned that their cover or
their effort would be exposed. It´s unfamiliar territory for them," he said.
Pressed to discuss the 12 people arrested, the Mexican official would say only that five were linked to the Basque group ETA and that seven were
Mexicans detained in domestic cases.
She said the purported ETA members were living in Mexico to help finance the group´s operations in the Basque region of northern Spain and were not
planning attacks.
The official said some of the seven Mexican suspects were tied to murky domestic militant groups that have planted crude bombs at banks, government
offices and oil pipelines across Mexico in recent years.
None of those attacks caused human casualties but several of the pipeline attacks had a big financial impact by interrupting fuel supplies to major
industries.
All my childhood I wanted to be older. Now I\'m older and this chitn sucks.
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Baja-Brit
Nomad
Posts: 138
Registered: 8-28-2008
Location: London, England & La Paz
Member Is Offline
Mood: Happy in Baja!
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My wife who is Mexican was telling me the hassle she had getting a Visa to visit the US and how badly treated they are.
This despite having a well paid job, no criminal record, money in the bank, speaking fluent English and owning property etc.
She has now found a way around the problem
.......she got a British passport!
She said " they can stick their visa where the sun d'ont shine" or words to that effect. 
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I must admit I don't like visiting the US, I find the immigration officials rude and intimidating, perhaps thats the idea, make you feel guilty, even
if you have'nt done anything.
I appreciate they have a job, but can't they be nice about it?
As you were.
[Edited on 14-9-2008 by Baja-Brit]
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DianaT
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Posts: 10020
Registered: 12-17-2004
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Baja-Brit
I must admit I don't like visiting the US, I find the immigration officials rude and intimidating, perhaps thats the idea, make you feel guilty, even
if you have'nt done anything.
I appreciate they have a job, but can't they be nice about it?
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Yes, they can be very rude---but it seems like everytime this subject comes up, it is always USA bashing---they are awful, the worst, etc.
It can and does happen lots of places. The absolute worst we were ever treated was at a border crossing from Montana going into Canada. The
Canadians were extremely rude---so rude, that if we had not been heading for Alaska, we would have turned around. But it has also not kept us from
returning to Canada.
Usually going into Canada we have had no problem and have been treated OK or at least indifferntly. At times in Central America we were treated
poorly going from one country to another, and other times treated fine. The same with Mexico, both the northern and the southern border.
Yes, they have a job to do and it would be nice if they were polite about it, but please, it is not just the US officials
Diane
[Edited on 9-14-2008 by jdtrotter]
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Baja-Brit
Nomad
Posts: 138
Registered: 8-28-2008
Location: London, England & La Paz
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Mood: Happy in Baja!
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I'm not having a dig at the US in any way shape or form, I am sure they are worse out there.
I am afraid to say they are the worst that I have experienced and I have traveled extensively.
Very unwelcoming!
I think a trip to charm school would work wonders. 
As you were.
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DianaT
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Posts: 10020
Registered: 12-17-2004
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Baja-Brit
I'm not having a dig at the US in any way shape or form, I am sure they are worse out there.
I am afraid to say they are the worst that I have experienced and I have traveled extensively.
Very unwelcoming!
I think a trip to charm school would work wonders.
As you were. |
I have no reason to doubt you. And for us the absolute worst were the Canadians, and the absolute worst for our Guatemalan friends were the
Mexicans---on and on.
They could all use charm school.
Sorry if it sounded like an attack, it was not meant in that way. We all relate to our own experiences.
However, as I said before, there is an amazing amount of USA bashing on this board at times by some others.
Diane
[Edited on 9-14-2008 by jdtrotter]
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3718
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
Member Is Offline
Mood: muy amable
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USA bashing??? NOT!!
At last count I have been to 52 countries (list supplied, privately, on request)
The US stands alone in rude and arbitrary treatment at borders, whether by land, by sea or by air, or even by foot, for that matter.
Went to Myanmar (Burma) two years ago and was warned that the immigration process would be ugly.... it was not.
A close second to the US, Ghana.
My fellow traveler had a Canadian passport and they waved him through with a smile, they really gave me the third degree- but US has been much worse.
(Ever go through the US customs line that is set up in the Bahamas? Why we have our incoming in a foreign country is a mystery, but they put the
really incredible jerks at that posting, IMO)
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DianaT
Select Nomad
Posts: 10020
Registered: 12-17-2004
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| Quote: | Originally posted by thebajarunner
At last count I have been to 52 countries (list supplied, privately, on request)
The US stands alone in rude and arbitrary treatment at borders, whether by land, by sea or by air, or even by foot, for that matter.
Went to Myanmar (Burma) two years ago and was warned that the immigration process would be ugly.... it was not.
A close second to the US, Ghana.
My fellow traveler had a Canadian passport and they waved him through with a smile, they really gave me the third degree- but US has been much worse.
(Ever go through the US customs line that is set up in the Bahamas? Why we have our incoming in a foreign country is a mystery, but they put the
really incredible jerks at that posting, IMO) |
The mention of USA bashing was not in reference as much to this subject as it was to what has happened in several threads. I guess I should have been
clearer----sorry.
Yes, we do see things from our own experiences and yours have not been good.
Diane
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Skip_Mac
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Posts: 102
Registered: 4-25-2008
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I am sorry jdtrotter that your Canadian border experience was so difficult. My own was the opposite, a few questions about destination and amount
of cash..and through. Coming back to the States, from Canada has always involved a car unload, examination, and frisk by US Homeland Security. In
contrast coming back from Mexico (about 12 trips now) were like going inot Canada...Except for the green Tortoise trip, when the USA had us unload ALL
baggage and go through individual questioning, (No One Was Searched at all). Reloading was not fun.
Look. Many people have bad border experiences. Politics and military/police/drug security screw all of us innocent people. I would have hoped that
Sheri, Sirena and Juan's status would have put them on a GREEN list... But from what I hear on the grapevine...Homeland security is one of the WORST,
inefficient ( and possibly) ineffective bureaucracies ever created by a "First World" country.
My apologies to all of you who are abused by salary wasting USA bureaucrats at the US border. And as well to you jdtrotter for your unfortunate
experience with the Canadians (way oit of line with my personal experiences... but I am not discounting your experience...Sad).
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Skip_Mac
Look. Many people have bad border experiences. |
Ken....Do you see this?
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