General Reports

[Jim0129]

Hello guys,

I've seen these shuttles come and go for a long time and was wondering if any of you has used the service to cross the border?

It seems very straight forward, not that expensive if you're going to skip an hour or two of border crossing wait time.

http://sdtjpassport.com/

I haven't seen anyone post their experience using this shuttle service, so if you have, please share.

[Captain Solo]

Cocr,

Make sure you have a good case and the laws are in your side. After you got all the facts straight and have tried all means without success, you may want to engage your local US rep.

Don't get your US rep involve in shaky, unlawful cases, as the rep may retaliate and agencies may refer you to DOJ for prosecution.

[Cocr Brotheler]

Travv,

The attorneys will milk him for $5 K to 10 K form some stupid bullshit work, cause further delays, more complications and may make his situation worse.

I know you like to spend big money on chicas and attorneys, but these admin cases can be solved and much better solved by the affected parties themselves without the need for attorneys with their bullshit and high fees. I know a few guys who were lied to, strung along and milked big time by these attorneys who did very little work besides bullshitting their clients and lost the cases.

Go in DHS web site, read their regulations and keep writing to them asking for redress. After having all their evidences and arguments you can ask for a trial by an admin judge. In most cases DHS' attorneys would cave way before the trial. Their bosses would never let their high-priced attorneys screw around with a guy who just wants his GE card reinstated.

I almost did this one time when the Navy Reserves would not release me from active drilling status. After emailing him (a very powerful defense committee chair person) a staffer quickly called me back but I declined to proceed. I don't know what transpired after that however soon thereafter I was released from active drilling status.

The 2nd time very recently I had a dispute with the VA and all I had to do was copy his name in a letter to the VA and the VA very quickly resolved the issue in my favor.

Do involve them when you have a solid case. That is why they are elected and most will get involved and make those harassing you very uncomfortable. I learned this while on active duty and sometimes having to deal with very difficult civil servants (sand crabs).

[Phordphan]

If I stay the night at a hotel like Ticuan or even somewhere like Premier, is it safe to leave your car parked there overnight? Don't know how many of you actually drive into Tijuana as opposed to just using taxis and Ubers.

If it's not safe I suppose I can leave my car at home and just take the trolley to the border since I live close to a trolley station. It would just be more convenient to have my own car to get around. Just not sure how good security is at these hotels for vehicles.

All of the love motels have their own parking garage in each unit (except the really old ones like Paraiso that have a gated lot). So, parking is quite secure as you're literally sleeping on top of your car. And nobody is coming in and out of your garage at night.

Ticuan, and all the decent hotels, have monitored parking.

This all presupposes that you drive a "normal" car. If it's a Ferrari, or Lambo, or some other six-figure car, well. Maybe it's better to leave that at home. No sense in tempting fate. If you drive around you'll see lots of expensive vehicles. There's money in Tijuana. Nobody gives my 20 year old Beemers a second glance.

[AmorPorFavor]

If I stay the night at a hotel like Ticuan or even somewhere like Premier, is it safe to leave your car parked there overnight? Don't know how many of you actually drive into Tijuana as opposed to just using taxis and Ubers.

If it's not safe I suppose I can leave my car at home and just take the trolley to the border since I live close to a trolley station. It would just be more convenient to have my own car to get around. Just not sure how good security is at these hotels for vehicles.

Ticuan is safe. They have 24 hour security and there is only one way in and out of the garage. I have parked there overnight many times. You may see some $80 k+ cars in there.

[Nothing24]

If I stay the night at a hotel like Ticuan or even somewhere like Premier, is it safe to leave your car parked there overnight? Don't know how many of you actually drive into Tijuana as opposed to just using taxis and Ubers.

If it's not safe I suppose I can leave my car at home and just take the trolley to the border since I live close to a trolley station. It would just be more convenient to have my own car to get around. Just not sure how good security is at these hotels for vehicles.

[Phordphan]

Guess it depends on how often and how long are we prepared to wait. I used to wait till after midnight during the week. Or leave before 9 AM on a Sunday.

I usually drive across. I have TSA precheck and passport card. Global duplicates these and I guess allows to drive in Sentri lanes? My vehicle will be too old for a Sentri so I figured to wait 6 months and do all this paperwork while registering a newer vehicle. But I no longer live in Baja or visit hktj as often as previously.

I can't find anything on the CBP web site about vehicle age. How did you determine your car is too old for SENTRI? I cross regularly in a 20 year old car and have done so for a long time. I have a 28 year old Mustang that has been approved to cross but it's too nice to take to Mexico.

[Gregyyr]

Guess it depends on how often and how long are we prepared to wait. I used to wait till after midnight during the week. Or leave before 9 AM on a Sunday.

I usually drive across. I have TSA precheck and passport card. Global duplicates these and I guess allows to drive in Sentri lanes? My vehicle will be too old for a Sentri so I figured to wait 6 months and do all this paperwork while registering a newer vehicle. But I no longer live in Baja or visit hktj as often as previously.

Exactly. I don't go that often so for now I just need to choose my return trip time specific to the normal times when the crossing is not busy. See the following web site for details and the graph is attached.

https://bwt.cbp.gov/historical

Sunday evenings are not good. But Friday nights later and Saturday are good times to return it appears. Or very early morning could work as well but not as good as at night. This is a historical chart attached so I am sure staffing levels could change from year to year but I think it's a good graph which seems semi accurate for the couple times I have been down there since the Global got pulled.

G.

[DonCarlos1234]

Guess it depends on how often and how long are we prepared to wait. I used to wait till after midnight during the week. Or leave before 9 AM on a Sunday.

I usually drive across. I have TSA precheck and passport card. Global duplicates these and I guess allows to drive in Sentri lanes? My vehicle will be too old for a Sentri so I figured to wait 6 months and do all this paperwork while registering a newer vehicle. But I no longer live in Baja or visit hktj as often as previously.

[Gregyyr]

Greggy,

Sorry it happened to you. This is serious business having your privilege canceled in light of the extreme delays in foot and car crossings at San Ysidro.

However, I am not aware of DHS' requirement for GE holders to report changes of permanent address. I lost the card twice recently, sent $25 for replacement and they just mailed new cards to me within a week. If DHS requires notification of permanent address changes I would have noticed and complied. DHS only needs your mailing address to mail the cards to you. Update of permanent address is done at the next renewal applications.

GE cards can only be pulled if the holder has been investigated and found errant by DHS or FBI. A DUI or any felony conviction will void GE / SENTRI / NEXUS cards. DHS may have made a mistake in your case, may be mixing your name with some bad characters. I have known it to happen.

You should write to the Ombudsman to find out the real causes and fix them.

Another bro mentioned the Ombudsman as well and I plan on giving that a go as it can't hurt.

Thanks,

-G.

[Gregyyr]

I've been crossing every week and sometimes twice a week by car and never been asked to verify my address. They just ask if anything to declare and where I am headed. Not sure how they would know or care to pull Greg's card over a simple address change. It would seem like a simple fix by the CBP to let you know to update for next time if it was really an issue. GE card is a life saver whether driving or flying.

It was two years ago that I moved so it has been quite a while. So that's what I am thinking may have caused it?

It's one thing for the GOV to say we pulled it and we make the rules. But they state they will tell you in detail what it was pulled for on their own web site. They need to follow through with the rules that they made and advertise to over 330 million people!

G.

[Captain Solo]

Travv,

The attorneys will milk him for $5 K to 10 K form some stupid bullshit work, cause further delays, more complications and may make his situation worse.

I know you like to spend big money on chicas and attorneys, but these admin cases can be solved and much better solved by the affected parties themselves without the need for attorneys with their bullshit and high fees. I know a few guys who were lied to, strung along and milked big time by these attorneys who did very little work besides bullshitting their clients and lost the cases.

Go in DHS web site, read their regulations and keep writing to them asking for redress. After having all their evidences and arguments you can ask for a trial by an admin judge. In most cases DHS' attorneys would cave way before the trial. Their bosses would never let their high-priced attorneys screw around with a guy who just wants his GE card reinstated.

[Travv]

A number of lawyers handle Sentri cases and appeals. If it is important to you, you might want to consult one of them and see if he can get it back for you. Google the title above for contact info for one firm. From their website:

According to the TSA, approximately 3-5% of the roughly 30,000 applicants that apply for Global Entry status every month will be denied. Customs and Border Protection ("CBP") in most cases will issue a written reason for the denial, but this is not always the case. In some cases, the applicant will have to pursue various avenues in an attempt to find out the reason for the denial. The most common reasons applicants will be denied, however, will be due to past arrests or convictions for criminal offenses or for administrative customs violations. In short, even minor criminal convictions or customs violations, regardless of their age, could result in a preliminary denial of Global Entry membership.

If your Global Entry application has been rejected, you should promptly consult with an experienced Global Entry appeal lawyer. If necessary, the Global Entry appeal lawyers at National Security Law Firm will investigate why your application was rejected. We will then request paperwork relating to the underlying offense and gather personal and professional paperwork relating to your character and the reasons why you would like Global Entry membership. We will then submit an appeal on your behalf discussing the reasons for the denial, demonstrating your rehabilitation, explaining your need for Global Entry, and providing evidence demonstrating that you are not a security risk to the security of the United States. If you are interested in appealing your Global Entry denial or revocation, you should consider an experienced attorney to assist.

Just a heads up as I had my Global entry pulled coming back from Tijuana and wanted to share some info with others. Border guards could only say I didn't qualify anymore but could not give me details on why and what happens is they upload a report online on your account and it just says I don't qualify anymore with a ton of various non-specific reasons anyone can loose access.

My own research only found I didn't update my last moving address with them so they had my address from two years ago. That is the only thing I could think of and a week later when I went down to Tijuana and asked the guard could it have been pulled for this she said yes, something as little as not updating an address. I have been using the Global Entry monthly for a long time down to Tijuana and the night the pulled global entry was no difference..

[Dogers69]

I've been crossing every week and sometimes twice a week by car and never been asked to verify my address. They just ask if anything to declare and where I am headed. Not sure how they would know or care to pull Greg's card over a simple address change. It would seem like a simple fix by the CBP to let you know to update for next time if it was really an issue. GE card is a life saver whether driving or flying.

Did you have a spouse with immigration or deportation problems? Or a family member with this issue? If not its probably a name matching someone else's with common names in Latino culture, if your Latino, there's probably 50 p dudes in USA with your name and date of birth. Hopefully they fix it my global entry is more important than my car in my opinion.

[Gregyyr]

I've been crossing every week and sometimes twice a week by car and never been asked to verify my address. They just ask if anything to declare and where I am headed. Not sure how they would know or care to pull Greg's card over a simple address change. It would seem like a simple fix by the CBP to let you know to update for next time if it was really an issue. GE card is a life saver whether driving or flying.

Frustrating part is their web site below, says "you will be provided information in writing detailing the reason for this action", but all the notice says is that I did not qualify anymore, with no details stated.

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-t...rogram-denials

I also find it hard to believe it was the address. He asked me where I lived and I said San Diego, but my old address was El Cajon and not San Diego so maybe this was an issue. While I reapplied and fixed my address, without knowing if it was the issue I could take months to even be considered and then maybe it wasn't my address at all so my application doesn't respond to the actual issue. Very frustrating. What is odd is I can see in other foreign countries where rules and laws are setup that are not "fair", but the USA I think is more of a gold standard of rights for the person. Of course the program is a privilege and not a "right", but still the process is a bit messed up not telling someone what they screwed up on.

Anyway. I am just crossing at less busy times so I am still dam appreciative to be able to travel back and forth thru Mexico and many countries and there are billions from other countries that would love a US passport so I got to look at the glass half full on this issue I think.

G.