The look of weariness was unmistakable when asked how long each had waited in the border crossing pedestrian line in Tijuana. The typical answer: between four and five hours, they estimated as they left the PedEast crossing at the San Ysidro Port of Entry Monday.
“It’s frustrating,” said Nicolas Tercero, a Tijuana resident. “Sometimes you even regret being in line.”
Over the weekend border-crossers reported longer than expected wait times, even for one of the busiest seasons of the year. Delays are attributed in part to the recent closure of the PedWest border crossing located half a mile away from the PedEast border crossing.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced last week the temporary closure of PedWest in order to allocate more resources to process the increase in migrants who have recently arrived at the border. It is PedWest’s second temporary closure this year for the same reason.
Until further notice, the only pedestrian crossing available at San Ysidro will be PedEast, in addition to the Otay Mesa pedestrian crossing.
Pedestrians wait in long lines to cross into San Diego at PedEast in Tijuana Monday.
(Alejandro Tamayo/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
On Saturday, the San Ysidro pedestrian line stretched all the way to Tijuana’s Easy Park parking lot — a rare scenario. People expressed their surprise as they walked to find the end of the line.
On Monday morning the long lines remained. “This is probably the longest line I’ve ever been in at the border,” said Tercero, who added that he has been crossing regularly for over 10 years. If it continues this way, he said he will hesitate to cross if unnecessary.
Border delays were not exclusive to pedestrian crossings during the weekend. People in their vehicles reported lines of up to eight hours on social media.
A CBP spokesperson said Monday that “CBP is redirecting personnel to assist the U.S. Border Patrol with taking migrants into custody. This may minimally impact operations at the local ports of entry, but CBP will open as many lanes as possible at the crossings to accommodate the increases.”
The PedWest crossing opened in the summer of 2016 to offer a new option to thousands of border-crossers to get into the U.S. from San Ysidro. It was closed for almost three years due to the pandemic.
PedWest was open again for limited business post-COVID but closed down after several months for the same migrant-processing reasons. On Nov. 16, it reopened to northbound traffic again, only to be shut down weeks later.
It is unknown at this time when it will reopen again.
“It’s been hit after hit,” said Jason Wells, executive director of the San Ysidro Improvement Corporation. “What we saw this weekend was complete chaos.”
Wells said the weekend was perhaps one of the most important of the year, not only for businesses, but also for workers and people crossing to visit their families.
Wells said the current situation puts at risk the estimated $400 million generated by San Ysidro businesses during the holiday season, which extends from Nov. 20 through Jan. 6.
“The saddest thing of all is that it’s our own government that is hurting us and at such a critical time for our businesses and communities,” he said.
Several elected leaders in San Diego County have expressed their concern with the decision, citing the impact on the lives of border-crossers and of businesses in the San Ysidro area.
Other crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border have also been recently affected by the increase in migration, such as the International Bridge 1 in Eagle Pass, Texas, and the Lukeville, Ariz., border crossing.
