If people just carried the right documents, the wait at the border would be shorter

I read Catharine Hamm’s border crossing story “How to Get Through Faster” with great interest [On the Spot, Dec. 3].

My company manages an electronic billboard at the border. Thus, my border crossing frequency is high, as is the delay I experience returning to my home or office in San Diego.

In all the articles I have read about the border wait times, I have never witnessed anyone addressing the most significant issue causing the delays.

A vast number of crossers fail to present the proper documentation, as mandated by our current laws, for entering the United States from a foreign border or nation.

If everyone entering the United States at Tijuana would present a legitimate federal identification — yes, even a passport book — I wager that the current wait line would be reduced by half, if not three quarters.

Every time I cross back into the United States at Tijuana I witness a significant number of people presenting birth certificates, driver’s licenses, etc., all of which dramatically slow down the entrance process because these documents must be manually input by an agent for verification.

Mike K. Newton

San Diego

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I read with interest Hamm’s article about traveling by car through the U.S./Mexico borders. If you are flying to many cities in Mexico you can save quite a bit by flying from and returning to the Tijuana International Airport, accessed by the Cross Border Xpress (www.crossborderxpress.com). The website describes it as “an enclosed pedestrian skywalk bridge exclusively for Tijuana Airport passengers who cross the U.S./Mexico border as part of their trip.”

Ruth Beaugh

Chino

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