Crossing for the day

Crossing into Mexico for the day is not an expedition here. It is a Thursday.

The Valley's bridges, from Roma down to Brownsville, carry millions of vehicles and millions of people on foot every year, and the great majority of those trips are people going to work, going to the dentist, going to see their mother, and coming home the same afternoon. Crossing is ordinary. It is also a decision most people make on the morning of, and they make it on one number.

The number is the wait

That number is the wait to come back. Going into Mexico is rarely the problem. The line that decides your day is the one returning to the United States, and at the same bridge on the same afternoon it can be twenty minutes or it can be two hours.

This site keeps a live board of exactly that — every Valley crossing, west to east along the river, with cars, Ready Lane, SENTRI, pedestrians and trucks reported separately, straight from CBP and refreshed every few minutes. It is at /border-wait-times/, and it is the one page here worth opening on a Tuesday. Check it before you leave, and check it again before you turn back.

Two things about reading it. Ready Lane and SENTRI are separate lanes with separate waits, and they are frequently much shorter than the general lane — if you hold one of those cards, the general number is not your number. And the pedestrian line is a different line altogether, which is why walking is often the faster way across if you are only going a few blocks.

Nuevo Progreso, and what people go for

Nuevo Progreso, across the bridge south of Weslaco, is the trip most people mean when they say they are crossing for the day. It is a compact strip you can walk end to end, built almost entirely around people who came for the afternoon: dentists, optometrists, pharmacies, barbers, restaurants with balconies over the street, and rows of shops selling vanilla, blankets, leather and pottery.

We are not going to recommend a dentist, an optician or a pharmacy, here or anywhere else on this site. What we will say is that the people who go regularly go on a recommendation from someone who has been going for years, ask what a thing will cost before it begins, and get it in writing. None of that is specific to Mexico.

What to carry

Coming back into the United States by land has document requirements, and they are not the same as the ones for flying. Everyone in the vehicle needs their own document, children included.

Check CBP's own page before you go rather than taking anyone's word for it, this page included, and check it again if it has been a season since you last crossed. The document is the one part of the day you cannot improvise.

The pharmacy, and what comes back with you

A large share of crossings are made for a pharmacy. Ask the pharmacy, and read the official guidance before you buy rather than after.

The same goes for food, plants and anything alive. The agriculture rules at the bridge are real, they are enforced, and the officer has heard every explanation there is.

Walking or driving

If you are going a few blocks and staying a few hours, leave the vehicle on the American side and walk.

Drive if you are going further than the first few blocks, if you are buying something you cannot carry, or if someone in the group cannot walk the strip and back. Then look at the SENTRI and Ready Lane columns before you choose a bridge.

When it is worst

Rather than a rule of thumb, use the board. It tells you what is happening right now, which no rule of thumb can do. And if you do not mind which bridge you use, the board makes that choice for you as well — the nearest crossing is not always the fastest one.

The difference between the lanes is visible on the board any afternoon of the week.

Money

You do not need pesos for a day in a border town. Dollars are taken as a matter of course along a strip that exists for day visitors, though your change may come back in pesos. Cards are accepted in some places and not in others, so carry cash, and carry it in small bills for the same reason you would at a pulga.

Before you go

• A document for everyone in the vehicle — checked the night before, not in the line
• Cash in small bills, and a card your bank knows you are about to use
• The wait, checked twice — once before you leave and once before you head back
• Water and a hat if you are walking anywhere between May and September
• Nothing you cannot explain at the bridge on the way home

Border conditions and document rules change, and a guide that pretends otherwise is worse than no guide. The shape of the day has been the same for a long time — check the wait, carry the document, walk if you can, come back before the afternoon builds. The specifics belong to CBP, and we will send you to them every time rather than copy them here and let them go stale.