I issued Mexican Border Crossing Cards as an immigration inspector in El Paso (1973-75), as one of my many duties. Later, as Port Director in Laredo (1982-84) I supervised this activity. The decision is discretionary and every officer making these decisions has different standards. This may not be legal, but it is what happens. My denial rate was about 50%. Many officers had denial rates of 90%. A very few officers had denial rates of 10%.

My standard, which was different than most other inspectors was: "What is best for the United States? While we don't want the B-2/B-1 visa used illegally, we do want foreigners spending money in the United States. That was my rationale. As long as I felt the applicant was more likely to benefit the United States, than harm it, I granted the Border Crossing Card. Sure, I made a few mistakes. But those who denied 90% of applicants were preventing America from benefiting from many legitimate applicants. I am sure the State Department visa section has similar problems. Some officers are tougher than others. The law gives great discretion to the issuing officer. As a manager, I looked for employees who used this discretion wisely.