38852
I am reading a book which is quite difficult for me.  
I attached a page in which a Japanese guy who is living in the USA is coming
back from a trip.

I have difficulties to really get the point of the whole conversation on this
page. What exactly is the problem?  
The Japanese guy thinks showing his passport is enough because he lives in the
US, but the immigration officer says he has to go through the immigration
check. Starting from the sentence in the middle of the page 「向こうで出入国手続きをした」 I
get lost.  
What is 向こう referring to here? The second sentence after this one the
Japanese(?) asks why he wasn't told that(what?) before. This mention of Mexico
doesn't make much sense to me either.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/4bjUR.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/4bjUR.jpg)
CC BY-SA 4.0
2016-08-30T20:46:38.493
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2021-10-29T00:37:36.627
2021-10-29T00:37:36.627
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question
meaning translation
「向こうで出入国手続きをした」
(高山正之 『変見自在 偉人リンカーンは奴隷好き』 新潮社)

The US immigration officer said to the young Takayama that US residents (even
those like Takayama) should've skipped certain procedures, to simplify things
(for the US immigration office).

「向こうで出入国手続きをした」 == He (Takayama) did the entry & exit (immigration) procedures
in Mexico.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-30T21:30:34.657
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2016-08-30T21:30:34.657
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answer