05GT-O.C.D.

Why is there so much traffic between the US and Mexico? Any time I see anything about (legal) border crossings, there's always hundreds of cars lined up seemingly in both directions. Do we have a lot of people who live in the US and work in Mexico? Go shopping there? School?

Just curious, I've always wondered. I could see trucks transporting goods, but so much of it seems like passenger traffic.

Flagstang

I know alot of people go to the beach in mexico. But more so I think people are going to visit family.

2k7gtcs

People that live in the U.S. go back to Mexico to visit family. They are often resident aliens, first generation citizens, etc. They work here and send money home. I have a painter that works for us that goes home to Mexico every other weekend. At Easter and Christmas time the workers all go to Mexico to be with family.

I know many of them like our painter, roofer, and framing carpenter are very rich by Mexico standards. They own businesses on both sides and we are at least 3 to 4 hours from the border here.

Also there is a lot of shopping that goes on between the border towns. Pretty much everywhere in Texas there is a large American border town there is also an equally large Mexican city just across the river. McAllen/Brownsville and Matamoros. Laredo and Nuevo Laredo. El Paso and Ciudad Juarez.

I won't go near the border. Especially not over it. Our painter complains that he has to pay protection money to the city police, state police, and even Federales down there. The only people that don't hassle him are the Mexican army. He said if he ever gets pulled over he's looking at being $100 lighter when he's done. Plus the cartels are kidnapping or just killing people.

***** crazy!

05GT-O.C.D.

I'm over a thousand miles away so my info is heavily filtered, but from what I've seen there's no way in hell I'd go across the border for some shopping, etc. Family I can understand, but it still seems like the border gets a lot of traffic for what I see as minimal reasons.

2k7gtcs

Gringos hardly ever go anymore. At least not the ones I know. Gringos around here used to go for prescription drugs, the lower (18) drinking age, outpatient medical procedures, untaxed beer, liquor, and cigs.

But the people that I know are all Mexicans or Mexican-Americans. They have fewer problems on the other side than say John from Ohio or Gary from Texas have. You see?

Cusp

Mexico is one place where going by air makes a lot of sense.

05GT-O.C.D.

Si'

Glenn

we should invade Mexico and take it over

Barricade

cause the Mexico toilet paper is horrible.....they come over here to go #2. lol

2BlownStangs

I'm out here on the border. El Paso/Juarez, most of the traffic is people that work on the US side and live in Mexico or like they mentioned before just going back and fourth visiting family. Plus most folks drive over here to El Paso to shop at WalMart and the nice malls..

Antigini-GT/CS

This man speaks the truth. The lines get that much longer when there are large shopping days like Black Friday, or when Christmas gets closer. They enjoy doing all of their shopping over here because Juarez doesn't have too much to offer. When the outlet mall opened with a Puma store, there were a few men from Mexico literally just grabbing hundreds of pairs of shoes to buy, take back to Mexico and sell for 2-4 times more than what they paid.