San Ysidro Ready Lanes Open December 20

Editor’s note: The success of the Ready Lane(CBP website) program now expands this plan to the world’s busiest border crossing at San Ysidro/Tijuana.  One friend and another nearby resident had a 3+ hour wait in the Otay Mesa Ready Lane this week.  Per the translated article below, access to the San Ysidro Ready Lanes will only be available from Vía Rápida Oriente or Av Padre Kino, the two east side Tijuana funnels(see our TJ/SY border crossing map).  Lanes 8 thru 11(right/east side at TJ/SY will be the designated lanes.  With holiday shopping crowding the border, confusion on what documents are accepted and traffic snarls leading to the border, we suggest Otay Mesa or Tecate crossings.  Better yet, just sit back, and wait until January to cross the border.

EL MEXICANO/TIJUANA .- The San Ysidro will, from next Tuesday 20 December, Ready Rail Lane, it will work 24 hours 8 to 11 lanes on the right side. Access will only be from Vía Rápida Oriente and Padre Kino.

The Secretary of Urban Development and Ecology, David Navarro Herrera, said that after the good results were obtained in the Otay authorities, Customs and Border Protection (CBP, for its acronym in English) decided to continue this scheme at the port of San Ysidro.

He mentioned that there is full coordination between such authorities and 20 town hall, to implement the new system streamlines the waiting times to cross into the United States.

He said that with this program “will benefit thousands of people, with the aim to reduce by 30 percent per vehicle waiting time.”

Will be Tuesday, December 20 from 10 in the morning when starting up all four lanes of the Ready Lane, ranging from 8 to 11, the right side, next to the Sentri line, though you may be able increased to five. For the first time will operate 24 hours a day.

People who can have exclusive use Ready Lane program must carry a card of four technology-enabled radio frequency identification (RFID, for its acronym in English), such as U.S. passport card, SENTRI, new resident card identifying permanent frontier pass, ie the recent laser visa.

As in Otay, San Ysidro on the card must be placed in the reader device a few feet before reaching the customs inspector, who after review will make the crossing.

It is expected that municipal police elements to guide drivers to access.

New Border Ready Lanes

The Tunnel of the Week discovery in the Otay Mesa warehouse area was a half mile long and included rail cars, electricity and ventilation.

From the photo at left, whotheheck knew that there was a San Diego Tunnel Task Force?  You can even buy Tunnel Task Force shirts, sweats, aprons, mugs and mousepads.  I’m not kidding, and they are just in time for Christmas.

“The ongoing investigation is being conducted by the San Diego Tunnel Task Force, made up of representatives from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement. Formed in 2003, the Task Force uses a variety of techniques to detect cross-border tunnels, from state-of-the-art electronic surveillance to old fashioned detective work. That includes following up on tips, many of which come from the public.”

The San Diego Tunnel Task Force is a division of the San Diego Border Enforcement Task Force(B.E.S.T.).   BEST is an arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement(I.C.E.).  ICE is the principle investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security(D.H.S.).

If you really want to be frightened by the size, layers, bloat and bureaucracy of the drug crusade, check out the 77 page National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy Report.  Wowzerz!

And check out the appendix of abbreviations for the thousands of initiatives, departments, agencies and strategies involved.  It is written by the “Office of National Drug Control Policy” from the “Executive Office of the President of the United States”.

It is obvious that none of these agencies and departments operate on a budget or are accountable for their activities.  But, they do write lots of nice reports.

What I really want to know is which 12 year-old designed the SD Tunnel Task force logo and how much was he paid?

“Operation Worm Watch” has begun in the Otay Mesa warehouse area with SD Tunnel Task Force agents going door-to-door with flyers asking for cooperation. The flyer federal agents are passing out asks people to report subterranean noises, unexplained vibrations and the odor of marijuana. It also asks warehouse owners to keep an eye out for renters who pay in cash, are unusually withdrawn, or keep unusual business hours.

Be the first on your block to get an SDTTF badge, flashlight and signal decoder as your reward.  You may need the flashlight soon if the entire area implodes due to the proliferation of perforation.

Editor’s note:  the success of the Ready Lanes at Otay Mesa have lead to new Ready Lanes at San Ysidro, scheduled to open December 2011.