Conversation so far:
where is the border crossing card number located
The MRZ on the BCC is on the reverse side. The document number to be used should be the second set of numbers after the Country of Issuance.
who is the border crossing card issued to
The BCC is issued only to Mexican citizens residing in Mexico and by the U.S. diplomatic missions in Mexico
for how long is the border crossing card valid
The Border Crossing Cards are valid for travel until the expiration date on the front of the card, usually ten years after issuance.
who produces the current border crossing card
The current Border Crossing Card is produced by the Department of State

Question: when was the first generation produced
Self-contained rewrite: when was the first generation of machine readable border crossing cards produced