Border checks for Tijuana trippers
Foreigners must now show passports and fill forms at crossing
WALKING into Mexico at its busiest border crossing with the US is no longer an uninterrupted stroll for foreigners. Pedestrians going to Tijuana from San Diego at the San Ysidro crossing must now choose between a line for Mexicans who get waved through, and a line for foreigners who must show a passport, fill out a form and – if staying more than a week – pay 322 pesos (roughly R260) for a six-month permit.
About a dozen foreigners stood in line on Wednesday night, directed by Englishspeaking agents to six inspection booths to have their passports stamped. It took about 10 minutes.
Travellers have long followed similar protocol at Mexican airports, but the new border procedure marks a big change at land crossings that weren’t designed to question everyone. Pedestrians and motorists have generally entered Mexico unencumbered along the 3 145km border with the US.
“This is about putting our house in order,” said Rodulfo Figueroa, Mexico’s top immigration official in Baja California state, which includes Tijuana.
The changes, which have been in the works for years, come as Donald Trump has surged to the top of the Republican field in the US presidential race. He has insisted that Mexico sends criminals to the US and pledged to build a border wall at Mexico’s expense.
For Mexico, it is a step toward closing an escape route for American criminals who disappear in Mexico. Border inspectors will tap into international criminal databases.
Motorists will see no change, and if lines get too long, officials will also wave pedestrians through.
More than 120 Americans expelled from Mexico this year while living in Baja, California had arrest warrants in the US, according to Figueroa, delegate of the National Migration Institute.
Some ordered to leave last year were on the FBI’s most-wanted list.
But authorities say benefits extend beyond stopping unwanted visitors. A recent hurricane stranded twice as many Americans in Cabo San Lucas than US authorities thought were there, Figueroa said, and registering as a foreigner would have made it easier to identify those who needed help.
Figueroa said Mexico can process about 1 000 foreigners daily, up from about 50 currently.
“If the line becomes clogged up, we will just let everybody through,” Figueroa said. “If we can’t check everybody, we won’t.”
Figueroa said San Ysidro is believed to be the first US land crossing to have a separate line for foreigners to show passports and will serve as a model for others as they are upgraded.
About 25 000 pedestrians (and 50 000 motorists) cross daily at San Ysidro to work, shop and play but it is unclear how many are foreigners in Mexico.
US customs and border protection says about one-third entering San Diego are US citizens, one-third are US legal residents and the rest are from other countries, largely Mexico. An unknown number have dual citizenship or residency in the US and Mexico.
Both countries have long wrestled with logistical hurdles of stopping people going to Mexico by land.
The US occasionally stops motorists and pedestrians as they leave – mainly to check for guns and cash – but it doesn’t have a system to record exits like at airports, seen by many as a significant shortcoming in border security.
Previous efforts to question more foreigners entering Mexico met resistance in Tijuana, whose economy relies on Americans who visit restaurants, beaches, doctors and dentists. Lines to enter the US at San Ysidro have exceeded four hours. – AP