The cross-border traffic flow between Tijuana and San Diego has slowed to a trickle as pro-immigration protests erupt in sanctuary cities across the state.
SAN DIEGO—The once-steady foot traffic from Tijuana, Mexico, to San Diego at the San Ysidro port of entry slowed to a trickle last week as stricter immigration measures were imposed by the Trump administration.
President Donald Trump has issued a barrage of executive orders to end the Biden-era border crisis, tighten national security, and curb illegal immigration since his inauguration at noon on Jan. 20.
Normally, pedestrians entering the United States from Mexico can stand for hours in lines stretching for several blocks before reaching the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) checkpoints, but on Jan. 29, an Epoch Times photojournalist crossed the border from Mexico into the United States within about five minutes.
Customers were sparse for vendors selling snacks and small souvenirs along the way.
“Not busy at all today,” one woman selling bottles of water told The Epoch Times. “Yesterday was the same.”
The San Ysidro port of entry is the busiest in the United States as well as the Western Hemisphere, with an average of 70,000 northbound vehicles and 20,000 northbound pedestrians crossing each day, in addition to southbound vehicular and foot traffic, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics and the Government Services Administration.
An American citizen who lives in Tijuana and walks to work at a restaurant in San Diego told The Epoch Times on the condition of anonymity that foot traffic has slowed substantially, and a U.S. Border Patrol agent said illegal border crossings have also slowed down dramatically.
Military Presence
Manny Bayon, president of the National Border Patrol Council union, San Diego chapter, said U.S. Marines were putting up layers of razor wire along the border along the east of the San Ysidro port of entry on Feb. 5.
“We’re just getting started,” he said. “We mean business. We have to protect the United States.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s decision to send 10,000 Mexican National Guard troops “obviously indicates there is a problem and they’re going to try to fix on their end,” Bayon said.
By Brad Jones
