MANDATORY X-RAYS A LOOMING NIGHTMARE
The Department of Homeland Security recently announced that a bill signed into law on Jan. 5 would require the agency to scan all vehicles, trucks and trains entering the U.S. from Mexico or Canada with X-rays or similar technology. If the Biden administration does not reverse this Trump-era law, it will be debilitating to border economies as well as to the U.S. supply chain in general, causing major traffic congestion at land ports of entry and resulting in millions of dollars in losses per day to cargo operations.
As evidenced by the November 2018 border closure in San Ysidro, and to shifts in staffing due to immigration surges and COVID-19-related measures nationwide, any hiccup at the ports of entry leads to immediate and lasting negative effects on local economies. As a smallbusiness owner with work sites and family members on both sides of the border, I see firsthand the effects several times a week. Passenger vehicle traffic can be delayed over five hours, while pedestrians can languish up to three hours in non-socially distanced queues. In some instances, cargo facilities have been forced to shut down completely due to issues with technology. These delays can affect businesses, supply chains, and family and social dynamics in normal times; one can only imagine how exponential the effects may be during a pandemic.
These delays are not one-sided. Besides those waiting to cross northbound, many Tijuana residents and visitors can suffer from the residual effects as well. Congestion along the major thoroughfares used to access SENTRI, Ready Lanes and all traffic lanes can stretch for up to six miles or longer, limiting access to and around the city’s Playas, Zona Rio and Mesa de Otay neighborhoods. Organized crime groups have established an informal network to jump queues for money and sometimes target stalled traffic, using the delays and congestion as cover and opportunities to make a fast getaway. I’ve seen tired and frustrated drivers become aggressive with street vendors and other drivers.
Baja California’s tourism, medical and manufacturing sectors could suffer as well. The region has become a mecca for culinary, wine and beer aficionados and offers a multitude of day-trip options for visitors to Southern California. Those quick jaunts will likely be disregarded if border waits continue to increase. Medical tourism has also flourished as costs continue to rise in the U.S. There is even a dedicated medical lane for those who have had procedures done in Tijuana, to limit the time they spend recovering in a vehicle. The dedicated lane would not exempt those users from extra scanning.
Recent joint ventures have seen many firms locate executive offices north of the border while manufacturing is done south of the border. Added layers of scrutiny for both executive visits and cargo operations will cost these ventures valuable time, which would surely then lead to increases in costs in the millions of dollars. It would hit all industries similarly, including the medical device, aerospace and agriculture industries. These types of ventures would be seen as less profitable and the Cali-Baja region would suddenly lose its appeal to cheaper overseas bidders. Years of building cooperative relationships between the U.S. and Mexico in our region will have been for naught.
A 100 percent scanning mandate would unnecessarily and significantly increase wait times nationwide at a time when Customs and Border Protection has shown it cannot maintain staffing levels required to keep people and goods moving efficiently across our borders. Despite having been delivered one of the most modern and technologically advanced ports of entry in the world in December 2019 at San Ysidro, CBP consistently fails to maintain efficient wait times. Doublestacked booths, which allow officers to process two vehicles at a time in one lane, have rarely been used after trial periods during construction. Officers already routinely conduct more thorough secondary type inspections in primary lanes, adding to delays. Coupled with an extra layer of scanning and interpreting results in real time, the results could be damning for border economies. If any one statistic is telling, the partial-day closure in November 2018 at San Ysidro caused $5.3 million in losses to San Diego alone. Multiply that by all the ports of entry along both the northern and southern borders and by 365 days.
This is a time for government to be shoring up economies, not placing additional burdens on its people. The Biden administration should be encouraged to reverse this unnecessary law and increase staffing instead to make our “smart” borders work.
Years of building cooperative relationships between the U.S. and Mexico in our region will have been for naught.