# Is it really that easy to ilegally cross the border from Mexico to USA ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 16, 2007, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-that-easy-to-ilegally-cross-the-border-from-mexico-to-usa/396203 "2007-03-16T14:30:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bogdan99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Bogdan99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bogdan99)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-that-easy-to-ilegally-cross-the-border-from-mexico-to-usa/396203/1 "2007-03-16T14:30:21Z")
I see in a lot of movies that the Mexicans can cross the border ilegally without problems: they swim across some river, they go on foot or even with trucks, full of them. I don`t know the real situation in the US, but is it really that easy for them? I mean, I know that they can`t just walk, like nothing happens, but it seems that with a couple of thousand dollars they can get some “coyotes” ( I hear this term a lot ) to cross them over. Isn`t this a great opportunity for the terroists to go to America? 3-5,000 dollars is nothing for them, to pay a guy to bring them in. Where is the border security? Until 1989, my country`s borders were 100 % secure, nobody could get out. And if as poor communist country could do it, how come the richest country in the world can`t? It`s very strange. P.S. I am sorry if this thing was asked before, I can`t search the forum.If it was aked, could somebody please put a link? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-that-easy-to-ilegally-cross-the-border-from-mexico-to-usa/396203/2 "2007-03-16T14:47:17Z")
Yes, people can come through if they really want to however it isn’t always easy in the conventional sense of the word. The border is about 2000 miles long and goes across four large states. There isn’t a fence and although there are several law enforcement agencies that patrol the border, they can only cover a fraction of it at a time. Some of it is inhospitable desert and many die trying to walk across it. Illegals have tactics like making a run for the border in tactical groups using some as distraction for the others. Then, there is the stream of regular car traffic that goes through every day from ranging from places as far apart as El Paso, TX to San Diego, CA. Most of the cars aren’t checked thoroughly because of time, resources, and general hassle. Land owners in rural areas on New Mexico and Arizona on the border often get tired of the steady stream of illegals passing through their property and may try to take matters into their own hands. The U.S. - Canadian border is even more open however with snowmobile trails and dirt roads that cross from one isolated area in the U.S. to the same in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-that-easy-to-ilegally-cross-the-border-from-mexico-to-usa/396203/3 "2007-03-16T14:51:27Z")
[QUOTE=Bogdan99] Isn`t this a great opportunity for the terroists to go to America? 3-5,000 dollars is nothing for them, to pay a guy to bring them in. [/quote] I suppose if they’re desperate…but not really. It’s even easier to simply board a plane, maybe with some fake IDS, maybe not, and fly in like anyone else. That’s why the did for 9/11. > [@](#): > > Where is the border security? Until 1989, my country`s borders were 100 % secure, nobody could get out. And if as poor communist country could do it, how come the richest country in the world can`t? It`s very strange. We could if we wanted but there’s no real drive for a variety of GDish reasons. Besides, having a thousand mile long double wall with guard towers, machine gun nests, barbwire, etc. would be very bad PR. ---
**Author:** ![ChicanoRojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@ChicanoRojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChicanoRojo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-that-easy-to-ilegally-cross-the-border-from-mexico-to-usa/396203/4 "2007-03-16T14:55:28Z")
[QUOTE=Bogdan99] I see in a lot of movies that the Mexicans can cross the border ilegally without problems: they swim across some river, they go on foot or even with trucks, full of them. I don`t know the real situation in the US, but is it really that easy for them? [/QUOTE] Define “easy”. Not it’s not “easy” to cross the border. That’s why undocumented immigrants have to pay smugglers to get smuggled in. Two major natural obstacles when crossing the border are the long stretches of desert or the Rio Gande’s treacherous waters. If the river doesn’t suck you down [in the Texas-Mexico border], then you need to be able to survive walking through the desert in order to avoid the ICE border posts and patrols. Is it impossible to cross the border illegally, clearly not. Is it easy? No. Just as an added note. “Coyotes” are not only used to cross the border, but are also used for the “black market” employment. ---
**Author:** ![ChicanoRojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@ChicanoRojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChicanoRojo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-that-easy-to-ilegally-cross-the-border-from-mexico-to-usa/396203/5 "2007-03-16T14:57:17Z")
[QUOTE=mstay] Besides, having a thousand mile long double wall with guard towers, machine gun nests, barbwire, etc. would be very bad PR. [/QUOTE] …and costly as Hell. ---
**Author:** ![Bogdan99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Bogdan99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bogdan99)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-that-easy-to-ilegally-cross-the-border-from-mexico-to-usa/396203/6 "2007-03-16T14:59:34Z")
Thanks for the answer Shagnasty. In my opinion, the US government will have a very tough time controlling the illegal migration, even if they build that wall that I hear of in the news.And what a stupid idea with that wall… The US-Canada border is not such a big issue, as Canada also has a strict Visa control on most of the other countries. ---
**Author:** ![Bogdan99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Bogdan99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bogdan99)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-that-easy-to-ilegally-cross-the-border-from-mexico-to-usa/396203/7 "2007-03-16T15:04:43Z")
I am sorry. until I posted my reply to Shagnasty, you all posted on this topic. I said it was easy because that is what I see in the movies. I realise it`s not like that, but still… Of course if somebody wants to hurt a country or a government, the entry in that country is probably the easiest part of the plan. I also heard stories of people from here that went to Mexico and crossed illegally into the USA, but with what I know of the geography of the terittory , and what you all said now, I find it a little hard to believe that they just drove across some desert, like they told people back home. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-that-easy-to-ilegally-cross-the-border-from-mexico-to-usa/396203/8 "2007-03-16T15:04:58Z")
I bet it’s much easier to keep people _in_ a country when you have the luxary of shooting them. Keeping people _out_ without killing them or hurting them is a whole different task. Passive measures are rather ineffective. Plus, they have the chance to try again if they fail. Not so when you can kill them for trying. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-that-easy-to-ilegally-cross-the-border-from-mexico-to-usa/396203/9 "2007-03-16T15:09:32Z")
[QUOTE=Bogdan99] The US-Canada border is not such a big issue, as Canada also has a strict Visa control on most of the other countries. [/QUOTE] Illegal Canucks are even scarier IMHO. They could come here in droves and live virtually undetected as long as they were careful never to say certain words. They whole country could be filled with them for all we know. I will try to stay clear of GD but I think this is factual. There aren’t really many powerful groups that want to crack down hard on illegal Mexican immigration. Many businesses really need their labor to support their business model. Liberal minded folks are always up to help those seen as unfortunate for reasons beyond their control. The second largest ethic group in the U.S., hispanics, tend to support their brethren. The general public tends to be torn while realizing that illegal immigration seems wrong yet most realize that most illegals work hard and do very undesirable jobs keeping goods and services cheap. ---
**Author:** ![ChicanoRojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@ChicanoRojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChicanoRojo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-that-easy-to-ilegally-cross-the-border-from-mexico-to-usa/396203/10 "2007-03-16T15:18:03Z")
[QUOTE=Bogdan99] I also heard stories of people from here that went to Mexico and crossed illegally into the USA, but with what I know of the geography of the territory , and what you all said now, I find it a little hard to believe that they just drove across some desert, like they told people back home. [/QUOTE] Well. There is four ways to get into the US. By sea (commonly done by Haitians, Dominicans, and Cubans), by airplane, from Canada, and from Mexico. Obviously, since you mention Mexicans in your OP, by far the preferred entry is by land across the US-Mexico border. Now. As far as other nationalities, it really depends. It’s not unusual to read stories of Nigerians, Chinese, or Eastern Europeans being caught at the Texas-Mexico border either swimming or en mass via trailers. Most prefer this method, as far as I know, since there are more chances of getting caught by the aforementioned entry methods. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-that-easy-to-ilegally-cross-the-border-from-mexico-to-usa/396203/11 "2007-03-16T15:24:36Z")
[QUOTE=Bogdan99] Where is the border security? Until 1989, my country`s borders were 100 % secure, nobody could get out. And if as poor communist country could do it, how come the richest country in the world can`t? It`s very strange. [/QUOTE] Well, as **mstay** and **Bear\_Nenno** alluded to, the US government doesn’t really have the possibility of establishing no-man-lands where people may be shot on sight. If they did that (and had the means to enforce them), I guess that less people would attempt to cross the border. I don’t know if Romania – where I assume you live or lived at the time – ever did anything like that, but I’m sure that if you had attempted to illegally leave the country, and had been caught, they wouldn’t just have sent you back to your place. By the way, you say that there was no way to get out of your country, but a former Romanian coworker of mine told me that she visited Paris as part of a school trip a few months before the fall of the communist government. The biggest problem appears to have been convincing the French government that they wouldn’t stay. So what did you need to do if you wanted to travel abroad at the time? ---
**Author:** ![ChicanoRojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@ChicanoRojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChicanoRojo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-that-easy-to-ilegally-cross-the-border-from-mexico-to-usa/396203/12 "2007-03-16T15:25:33Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] The general public tends to be torn while realizing that illegal immigration seems wrong yet most realize that most illegals work hard and do very undesirable jobs keeping goods and services cheap. [/QUOTE] [December 2006 Report from the State of Texas State Comptroller Office.](http://www.window.state.tx.us/specialrpt/undocumented/) > [@](#): > > The absence of the estimated 1.4 million undocumented immigrants in Texas in fiscal 2005 would have been a loss to our gross state product of $17.7 billion. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-that-easy-to-ilegally-cross-the-border-from-mexico-to-usa/396203/13 "2007-03-16T15:29:10Z")
[QUOTE=ChicanoRojo] Well. There is four ways to get into the US. By sea (commonly done by Haitians, Dominicans, and Cubans), by airplane, from Canada, and from Mexico. [/QUOTE] Well, I _guess_ you could cross the Bering strait from Russia into Alaska if you really wanted. 😉 But this does raise a factual question: are there immigration officers patrolling Alaska’s shores in case illegal immigrants appear, or are there so few people who would come into the US this way that it’s not worth it? ---
**Author:** ![ChicanoRojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@ChicanoRojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChicanoRojo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-that-easy-to-ilegally-cross-the-border-from-mexico-to-usa/396203/14 "2007-03-16T15:30:31Z")
[QUOTE=severus] Well, I _guess_ you could cross the Bering strait from Russia into Alaska if you really wanted. 😉 [/quote] Dang it! I knew ma pips missed one entry. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-that-easy-to-ilegally-cross-the-border-from-mexico-to-usa/396203/15 "2007-03-16T15:38:57Z")
[QUOTE=severus] Well, I _guess_ you could cross the Bering strait from Russia into Alaska if you really wanted. 😉 But this does raise a factual question: are there immigration officers patrolling Alaska’s shores in case illegal immigrants appear, or are there so few people who would come into the US this way that it’s not worth it? [/QUOTE] I read recently that there is a guy attempting to walk most of the way around the world starting in South America and then into North America, Russia, Europe, the Middle East and just hop down to Africa. He found a way to walk across a frozen part of the Berring Strait and later got into some minor trouble for it in Russia. I would imagine that type of thing just isn’t as common as it was back in the day however. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-that-easy-to-ilegally-cross-the-border-from-mexico-to-usa/396203/16 "2007-03-16T15:51:37Z")
[QUOTE=ChicanoRojo] [SIZE=3] If the river doesn’t suck you down [in the Texas-Mexico border], then you need to be able to survive walking through the desert in order to avoid the ICE border posts and patrols. Is it impossible to cross the border illegally, clearly not. Is it easy? No. [/QUOTE] Nitpick: ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) does not have border posts. However, the CBP Border Patrol does, in addition to regular patrols in vehicles, on foot, horse, ATV, etc. I think it’s impressive that the thread has reached this length without _someone_ even mentioning the Border Patrol. There are currently around 12,000 BP Agents, the vast majority of which are stationed on the Southwest Border. And the current administration currently has an initiative in place to hire an additional 6,000 agents, which will ALL be assigned to the SW border. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-that-easy-to-ilegally-cross-the-border-from-mexico-to-usa/396203/17 "2007-03-16T15:54:56Z")
I’m curious as to what it is like at the El Paso – Juarez border these days. In the 1980s, a friend and I were down that way. We left my car in El Paso and walked in a large crowd of people across the bridge over the Rio Grande into Juarez. There was no one in the Mexican kiosk as we entered Mexico. Later that day we walked back into the USA, again in a large crowd of people. Although there were officers in the American kiosk, they were not stopping anyone. While we were walking across the bridge on our return, we stopped to watch half a dozen people pull a raft down to the river from the Mexican side, and then leave it there as they walked across to the American side through the ankle deep water. There was a chain-link fence on the American side, so when they reached it, they turned around and re-crossed the river, climbed the bank, and joined the pedestrians walking across the bridge into the USA. Have things significantly changed there since then, or do large numbers of people simply walk back and forth across the border without being checked? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-that-easy-to-ilegally-cross-the-border-from-mexico-to-usa/396203/18 "2007-03-16T15:58:39Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] Illegal Canucks are even scarier IMHO. They could come here in droves and live virtually undetected as long as they were careful never to say certain words. They whole country could be filled with them for all we know. [/QUOTE] It already is. We have taken control of your rail transportation system and much of your banking system. And we are breeding with your daughters. ---
**Author:** ![Roog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a87d85/32.png) [@Roog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roog)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-that-easy-to-ilegally-cross-the-border-from-mexico-to-usa/396203/19 "2007-03-16T16:06:52Z")
[QUOTE=Muffin] Have things significantly changed there since then, or do large numbers of people simply walk back and forth across the border without being checked? [/QUOTE] I was wondering about that as well. As a Mexican citizen, you don’t need a visa to get into the US. Even if they stop you at the border, you simply say you’re going to visit your cousin. And if it doesn’t work the first time, try again the next day. Why even bother with the dangerous stuff? Once in, you get a job with an employer willng to hire illegals. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-that-easy-to-ilegally-cross-the-border-from-mexico-to-usa/396203/20 "2007-03-16T16:07:32Z")
[QUOTE=Bogdan99] The US-Canada border is not such a big issue, as Canada also has a strict Visa control on most of the other countries. [/QUOTE] It’s not a big issue because it’s not discussed much in the public arena. Also, it’s rather hard for those coming up from Mexico to do an end run around the US just to come through the porous border with Canada. > [@](#): > > The number of actual illegal border penetrations along the U.S.-Canada border is small in comparison to daily arrests along the U.S.-Mexico border…resources have been significantly increased since 9/11 from approximately 350 agents to almost 1,000 agents…along the U.S.-Canada border. Source: [US Embassy - Canada](http://ottawa.usembassy.gov/content/textonly.asp?section=can_usa&subsection1=borderissues&document=borderissues_borderfaq_0906) If you spend time to read the “official” government response, the US-Canada border just isn’t an issue. However, then there is this … > [@](#): > > We do not mean to belittle the importance of the drug and people smuggling interdiction efforts. But, outside of the Washington State/British Columbia crossings, nobody even suggested to us that such smuggling was a serious problem. \*\*Furthermore, we have seen no evidence and have heard of no claim that, even in places where the anti-smuggling/drug effort is most dedicated, the inspection system currently in place at either border intercepts most would-be violators. \*\*A number of people even suggested to us that a random inspection method would probably be as effective as the current inspection methodologies. And under questioning, even those most committed to the anti-alien smuggling/ anti-drug effort acknowledged that most of their good “busts” occur as a result of tips, good old-fashioned human intelligence work, and seamless on-the-ground cooperation with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. (Emphasis author) Source: [http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=224&prog=zgp](http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=224&prog=zgp) > [@](#): > > Prior to September 11th, Border Patrol agents very seldom received terrorist look-out lists. In one case several years ago, I assisted the U.S. Coast Guard in the arrest of six Syrians who attempted entry illegally into Detroit. Only at that point did I learn that they, along with 14 others, were on a suspected terrorist look-out list. The Coast Guard had the list, but the Border Patrol did not. > > As the processing continues, the agents, who have little verified information in hand, serve the aliens a form delineating the section(s) of the immigration law they are alleged to have violated. A box marked “own recognizance” is usually checked, and the aliens are then allowed to walk out the door into our communities. Very seldom does the alien even provide a U.S. address or phone number. Before they vanish into our communities, they are asked to send the I&NS their U.S. address when they take up residence. Of course, they rarely do. > > Unfortunately, the practice of “catching and releasing” even extends to criminal aliens at times. In one recent case, a Detroit Sector Border Patrol agent tracked down and arrested an illegal alien who had been convicted of drug trafficking at least five times. When arrested, he had identifications and driver’s licenses from seven different states. The agent naively thought the alien would be held without bond for his immigration hearing, as provided by law. The agent was wrong. The illegal alien felon was ordered released by local Border Patrol management over the strong protests of the arresting agent. > > In 1996, Blaine, Washington Border Patrol agents arrested terrorist Abu Mezer not once, but three times entering the U.S. illegally. Even after his third arrest, Mezer was released. Several months later Mezer was shot by New York City Police just hours before his planned attack on the New York subway system. Source: [U.S. Senate: 404 Error Page](http://www.senate.gov/~govt-aff/111301hall.htm) I have friends who work along the US-Canada border. The stories they tell would indicate will tell you the border is so wide open in places that the trafficking in drugs and illegal immigration practically dwarfs that of the US-Mexico border. No one wants to hear about it because those coming across the Us-Canada border are not Hispanic. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-that-easy-to-ilegally-cross-the-border-from-mexico-to-usa/396203.md?page=2)