Welcome to our small corner of the world!! Great first post.
I am kind of confused here. Isn't the Border crossing from Mexico into America under Mexican jurisdiction? As you said, you left America through a grand hall (under American Jurisdiction) yet had to return through the Mexican govs portal.
I think a lot of the border crossing traffic (from Mexico to here) is massively inflated due to asylum seekers. Perhaps they should have a different area to process that.
Whenever I left and/or returned to this country it was fairly short and sweet. While I've never been to Mexico, I have traveled to the British Isles and a few other places.. All of the return times were easy. It was basically them asking if I had anything to declare and then giving your luggage a cursory exam. Since 9-11 our luggage is checked (along with passports) more thoroughly so the wait-time has increased. Perhaps that is what you are witnessing?
I have a lot of friends who have traveled to Mexico via boat, jet or driving. Some live in San Diego and make it a regular, weekly drive trip to buy cheaper prescription drugs. They say they just drive through after a short check. Granted the lines leaving the US are short compared to the lines coming in. All that tells us is that America is importing a lot more then exporting... :-)5 lanes leaving and 17 or 18 incoming.. That's not counting foot traffic..
Lynda (moderator)..
Asylum seekers wait days and weeks at U.S.-Mexico border
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/asylum-seekers-wait-days-and-weeks-at-u-s-mexico-border/
Arial border map
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Tijuana,+Baja+California,+Mexico/@32.5428309,-117.0311624,337m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x80d9390226587bd3:0x14724bafa4e62456!8m2!3d32.5149469!4d-117.0382471
: Two years ago I visited Tijuana Mexico. On coming back, I had
: to stand in line for 2 and 1/2 hours. The reason can be
: seen in the attached photo. It shows a single line of
: people going into this room inside this small building. The
: room to process thousands of people waiting is no bigger
: than a large living room! There are 6 counters but only
: about half are active. At the counter a border agent asks
: questions and scan your passport. If 3 counters are used,
: that means they assign 3 agents to process thousands of
: people! They have thousands of border agents but they will
: assign only 3 agents to process the crossing! You can also
: cross by car, but that waiting time is just as long or
: longer.
: I recently entered China through Hong Kong. There were many
: more agents, and the process took about 20 minutes. Going
: back to Hong Kong from China took about 15 minutes. I
: estimate that there are at least twice as many people
: crossing the HK/China border than the US/Mexico border.
: Yet, the crossing time at the HK/China border is only a
: fraction of the time needed to cross the US/Mexico border.
: The border crossing into the US is a total disgrace. To assign
: 3 or 4 agents to process people crossing from one major
: country into another is a deliberate act to slow and
: inconvenience the people coming into the US. I entered
: Mexico through a grand hall, but I return to the US through
: a living room!
: I hope that we people can work with the border patrol to
: improve the situation. The US government and border patrol
: need to show more respect for Mexicans. Their lack of
: respect is painfully obvious from the photo, the small
: room, and the long long wait time. I will no longer visit
: Mexico if I have to wait hours to cross back into the US.
:
