Two decades ago, SENTRI's doors opened- first during a pilot program- to 500 members of the maquiladora industry. Between 1995 and 2015 the number of users of the SENTRI program has increased to 423,000 people.

To understand how the program has evolved, future plans, and the possibility of a SENTRI dedicated exclusively to investors, Business Conexion interviewed Sally Carrillo from CBP.

"In 1994, we proposed a program for the trusted traveler at the southwestern border of the US. The idea was presented to the border agencies, which was then called the US Service of Immigration and Nationalization," comments Sally Carrillo. "We wanted to propose a program that was similar to Nexus, which is still in place at the Canadian border, but apply it to the characteristics and needs of the American southwestern border given that this region did not have an established trusted traveler program." Sally Carrillo explains that for the creation of the SENTRI program a team composed by all federal law enforcement agencies was put together to assure that all the requirements of each entity would be met regarding border security. "After working with the local chambers on both sides of the border, in 1995 we open SENTRI's doors to 500 members of the maquiladora industry to test the technology that was about to be implemented," explains Carrillo. These participants were asked required to cross border a minimum 5 timesper week to efficiently task the technology, given that the program needed individuals with ties to the business sector that would frequently cross the border. Originally, the lane would open from Monday to Friday during two periods, from 6:00 am to 9:00 am and from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm. The technology included underground sensors and transponders that were placed in cars. The trial period lasted about a year and was followed by another period of six months. Little by little more participants were added to the program, usually 100 individuals at a time. "We are about to celebrate 20 years and I can say with certainty that we have had a lot of success stories and satisfaction among users," she assured.

Regarding the technological changes that have been seen over the twenty years of SENTRI, Sally Carrillo considers that the way in which the advances have been implemented with regard to security have maintained this program as a viable solution for those who need to cross the border quickly and efficiently. "Currently, we use a radio frequency identification system which reads the users' cards. For now, the technology implemented in the SENTRI lane seems to be adequate, given that all federal agencies are producing RFID documents."

Regarding the possibility of a program that takes into account business travel in the Mega Region by including temporary member cards linked to permanent members' accounts, Sally Carrillo believes that due to the local nature of the SENTRI program and the existence of Global Entry programs, informing members of the business sector regarding frequent crossings could be a viable option. We could inform those members of the business sector that have Global Entry that they are able to use SENTRI lane about the south border. Agreements could be generated with companies further from the border to benefit from economic flow in the region. We could facilitate filling out forms and requirements.

Sally Carrillo stated that over the past couple months the number of SENTRI pedestrians has decreased which is why measures have been taken to increase the number of travelers in this segment. The phenomenon has occurred because now a traveler who uses the SENTRI pedestrian lane can get in the car of someone they know who has SENTRI; resulting in less people using the lane than those who originally applied for it.

Because of this CBP has been offering information on the SENTRI program and on line assistance this includes bilingual attention, orientations to fill out forms, information regarding the cost and benefits of enrolling, and assistance withappointments. In San Ysidro the SENTRI office is dedicated to the registering of new members. The waiting period for the approval of documents can be 2 to 4 weeks.

Regarding the CBP Border Wait Times app that looks to give people information on the wait times and the number of open lanes at both the pedestrian and car crossings, but has presented some incongruences with reported wait times and number of people and cars in line. Carrillo explains that they are working on the coordination between lanes to maintain a reasonable balance for wait times, as well as the actualization of the information each hour, based on camera monitoring and frequent surveys to travelers.

It was established that in the near future buswait times will also be giving on the local telephonerecorder. She adds that there are plans to improve buss crossing infrastructure.

On another topic, the public servant affirms that CBP maintains tight communication with San Diego's business sectors to prevent high crossing cycles originated by events, conventions, or even soccer games. "A good coordination assures that wait times are not as high," she observes. Nevertheless, this coordination does not existon the Mexican side. Carrillo affirms that it would be beneficial that organizations such as COTUCO to inform CBP of events on the Mexican side so that all necessary measures be taken into account to speed up wait times returning to the United States. Continue reading article here

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