Best Border Crossing Station Chula Vista Near Me

4worldlovers: The old Customs Building at the San Ysidro Border Station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Although listed in 1982 at the local level of significance, its role is a national one, and subsequent listing in the National Register of the Calexico station at the national level of significance supports a similar finding for San Ysirdro. The most heavily trafficked of the California border stations between the United States and Mexico, the old San Ysidro Customs Building is important for its role in politics and government as a custom house, where U.S. policies for international political and economic relations have been directly implemented since 1933, as well as for its impact as an immigration station which directly affected the Hispanic heritage of the region. The station is also recognized as a notable example of regional Spanish Colonial Revival architecture as interpreted by the Depression-era federal building program under which is was constructed.

The border station is the most important activity in San Ysidro, a community about fifteen miles south of the incorporated city of San Diego. Increasing border traffic in both goods and people led Collector of customs, William H. Ellison, to comment, in regards to the border facilities at San Ysirdro, Tecate, and Calexico: "We need the buildings very much, as out present quarters at those places are crowded, and I am urging both the treasury and the customs and immigration bureaus that actual construction be speeded as much as possible." At the time (the early 1930s), the border authorities in San Ysidro were operating from a single story frame building. San Diego boosters, foreseeing the possibilities for local prosperity, were enthusiastic backers of the proposal for a larger, more efficient operation at the border.

The federal agency responsible for the construction of the old Customs Building at San Ysidro in 1932 was the Public Buildings Branch of the Procumbent Division of the U.S. Treasury Department. Part of a massive federal construction program began in 1926 under the Hoover Administration and continued under Roosevelt's Public Works Administration, the San Ysidro station was realized under the aegis of Acting Supervising Architect James A. Wetmore. Design credit probably belongs to the Superintendent of the Architectural Division of the Treasury, Louis A. Simon. In keeping with the general practice of the federal building program, the San Ysidro customs house is characterized by a restrained use of local architectural tradition, executed - in so far as was feasible - using local materials and craftsmen.

Acquisition of the property for the building was completed in 1931. Work began in the spring of 1932, with a ground-breaking ceremony attended by federal and county officials, local businessmen, and a contingent of government and officials for Tiajuana. Construction was completed in May of the following year.

Like its counterparts at Tecate (1933) and Calexico (1933), the border station at San Ysidro played a critical role in the daily life of the communities and the two nations it served. The old Customs Building at San Ysidro continued in its original function until 1974, when it was supplanted by a new border station nearby. Despite alterations, the exterior retains a high degree of architectural character and integrity.

4worldlovers: From San Ysidro, Calif., the location of the busiest Port of Entry in the United States, to the glistening waters of the Pacific Ocean, the Imperial Beach Station has played a pivotal role in stanching the flow of illegal alien entries and narcotics into the United States. It was here that Operation Gatekeeper -- a comprehensive and progressive strategy to control our Nation's borders -- was launched on Oct. 1, 1994.

The Imperial Beach Station, established on March 3, 1985, is the most southwestern Border Patrol Station in the continental United States. It covers 135 square miles of Southern California and is nestled between the burgeoning city of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico (est. pop. 2.2 million) and America's Finest City, San Diego, California (est. pop. 1.1 million.) Responsible for 5.5 miles of international border, the Imperial Beach Station is a microcosm of a variety of environments and Border Patrol operations.

Sandy beaches, rugged draws and canyons, mesas, marshlands, agricultural fields, horse ranches, residential and commercial areas are all encompassed in the Imperial Beach Station's area of operation. The Tijuana River meanders out of Mexico through the United States and into the Pacific Ocean, creating a river basin that runs the length of the border. Here, agents work twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, along the border in a strategic deployment that gives the agents the upper hand in preventing, detecting and arresting those who would enter the country illegally. This strategy has proved so effective that the Imperial Beach Station, once the busiest station in the nation, saw a 77% decrease in arrests in just over two years.

Today, agents at the Imperial Beach Station perform a myriad of Border Patrol duties. Agents here use mountain bikes, rigid inflatable boats, all terrain vehicles (ATVs), horses, 4x4 off-road vehicles, and infra-red night scopes to maintain a vigilant presence on the border. Our agents are involved in anti-smuggling operations, intelligence gathering, prosecution of criminal aliens, and criminal alien removal programs that take illegal aliens, convicted of felonies, out of city, county, and state jails and send them back to their birth country.

The Imperial Beach Station also boasts a Community Relations Unit and the San Diego Sector's first ever Explorer Scouts Post. The Community Relations Unit was recognized by the Attorney General and received the U.S. Attorney General's Distinguished Service Award for their work with the community in support of Operation Gatekeeper. The Explorer Scout Post of the Imperial Beach Station has been the model by which other stations in the Sector have formed their posts.

The use of the bikes had the immediate impact of increasing agent morale and arrests. Agents were able to get into environmentally sensitive areas, alleys, and congested city streets. Agents ride Trek bikes, outfitted with Rock shocks for additional suspension, and lights for night travel. Agents learn bike handling and maintenance on the job, and unlike some city police departments bike units, agents ride over treacherous, uneven terrain, jumping muddy single tracks and dodging heavy deciduous brush. A popular biking magazine reporter once remarked, after spending a long day riding with them, "I was impressed." (Giles Mingason, Bicycle Guide, Biking the Border, February 1993.)

The Boat Unit is tasked with detecting and apprehending those who attempt to illegally enter the United States by way of the Pacific Ocean or the Tijuana River. Agents volunteer for this unit. Agents assigned to the Boat Unit are often deployed to assist the U.S. Coast Guard in maritime interdiction operations involving alien smuggling and narcotics.