Border lines stretch for miles, waits grow to 10 hours in coronavirus crackdown

The latest move by Customs and Border Protection to slow traffic from Mexico into the U.S. caused border traffic jams to stretch for miles starting Sunday afternoon, and by Monday morning had created waits exceeding 10 hours for those crossing at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Border officials say the action, announced late Friday, is designed to reduce the spread of the coronavirus and make people “think twice” about crossing the border. But the backup had infuriated drivers and caused many San Diego- and Los Angeles-area employees to arrive late or miss work altogether.

Four lanes of traffic merging into two at Zona Rio in Tijuana on Sunday.

(Alejandro Tamayo/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

“It’s terrible. Terrible, terrible, terrible. What else can I say? I already called my job and told them I’m going to be late, but I’m probably not going to make it at all,” said Albert Rodriguez, an L.A.-based construction worker who had been waiting for seven hours Monday in the Tijuana traffic.

Several drivers dozed off in their cars or abandoned their vehicles to find a restroom after eight hours of waiting.

An 87-year-old woman suffered a heart attack and died Sunday in her car while waiting to cross into San Ysidro, Tijuana police said. A handful of vehicles ran out of gas and one car engine caught on fire during the weekend implementation of the new measures.

Some travelers who got into line on Sunday night said they didn’t cross into south San Diego until early Monday morning. Others abandoned their spot in the line.

“We just gave up and we went back to the house that we rent here in TJ,” said Hector Riveros, a Riverside resident. “I thought it would be better in the morning, but it’s not.”

A driver and passenger wait in gridlocked border traffic in central Tijuana, miles from the border, on Sunday.

(Alejandro Tamayo/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

It is just the latest action taken by President Donald Trump to partially close the border during the coronavirus pandemic. The administration implemented emergency rules in March that allow the U.S. to rapidly deport anyone arrested for crossing illegally.

Since March, CBP has been reducing staff and operating with fewer vehicle lanes during non-peak hours for travelers who are legally allowed to enter the U.S., including U.S. citizens. At one point in May, some workers began sleeping overnight in their cars at the Otay Port of Entry because CBP stopped processing vehicles altogether between midnight and 6 a.m.

The new coronavirus safety measures include more thorough inspections and education for non-essential travelers. Processing lanes have been shut down and agents are processing essential and non-essential travelers more slowly, according to the agency. According to CBP data, Monday morning wait times doubled and tripled at some crossings in the San Diego area compared to normal times. Mondays are typically heavy traffic days.

Only two lanes were open Monday for general processing or those traveling through the border without a RFID card, such as a passport card or Sentri card. The Sentri lanes — designated for low-risk travelers who have been pre-approved by CBP — were only slightly delayed with border-crossers reporting about 40-minute waits, compared to normal 20-minute border crossings on a Monday.

The definition of an essential worker varies from state to state, but jobs that are typically deemed as such during the pandemic include health care, food service and public transportation.

Street vendors were among the few people who benefit from delayed border traffic. But one vendor said drivers were too grumpy over the long wait to think about shopping.

(Alejandro Tamayo/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Non-essential travelers, such as those traveling to visit family, go to the beach or shop, are now being referred to secondary inspection for additional questions, according to CBP. Border officers will also “provide such travelers with educational material in the form of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Travelers Health Advisory Notice to ensure effective understanding of travel restrictions.”

“The goal here is slow the spread of COVID-19,” said CBP Branch Chief Jaime Ruiz in a written statement.

Paola Avila, the vice president of international business affairs for the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, called the CBP’s actions “concerning.”

“Our essential workforce, from health care workers to those who work in the food industry and other service sectors, are now caught in four- to 10-hour long wait times,” she said. “Increasing border wait times hurt our communities not only economically, with an estimated $7.2 billion annually in lost economic output, but also increases air pollution, endangering public health.”

Non-essential cross-border travel has been limited since March. But the new measures are also impacting essential workers, who are allowed to live in Mexico and work in United States.

Tensions rise in lines as a driver gets out of his vehicle to scream at another driver during a Sunday border traffic jam caused by increased enforcement of coronavirus restrictions. The cars are headed toward Playas de Tijuana at Zona Rio.

(Alejandro Tamayo/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Earl Goold, 55, a shipyard technician in San Diego, pulled his pickup truck into the line at 1:30 a.m. Monday morning but wasn’t going to make his 8 a.m. shift at the marine cargo terminal.

“This is not a very effective way to control the virus,” Goold said, adding that most non-essential travelers had already been deterred by the six-hour lines in recent weeks. “It ain’t going to deter anybody who has to work.”

Earlier this month, Trump considered banning re-entry for U.S. citizens who may be infected with COVID-19, according to the New York Times.

The president, who made border enforcement and disparaging Mexico the cornerstone of his 2016 campaign, has also incorrectly referred to Tijuana as “the most heavily infected place anywhere in the world.”

The border city currently has 146 active cases of the coronavirus, a state health official said Saturday. More than 543,000 cases have been recorded in Mexico, according to the World Health Organization. However, top Mexican health officials have said their numbers are likely a severe under-count because of limited testing.

Though San Diego County does not provide the number of active cases countywide, there are currently 34 active outbreaks in skilled nursing facilities alone, with 788 residents and 515 staff members testing positive for COVID-19, Public Health Officer Wilma Wooten said during a news conference on Wednesday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports more than 5.5 million cases of coronavirus infections in the U.S.

A woman and a teenager carry snacks to their car amid traffic at Zona Rio in Tijuana on Sunday.

(Alejandro Tamayo/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

“We need people to think twice about non-essential travel and to ask themselves if the travel is worth risking their lives and the lives of others,” said Ruiz, the CBP branch chief. “Mexico continues to experience spikes in positive COVID-19 cases along the Southwest border and it is our duty to do everything we can to protect our nation, including educating citizens and even discouraging non-essential travel to Mexico.”

Border wait times increased all along the southwest U.S. border under the new enforcement measures, including Tucson, Arizona, and El Paso and Laredo, Texas.

Gustavo de la Fuente, executive director of the Smart Border Coalition, said the new measures adopted by the U.S. government will likely reduce non-essential travel, but essential workers will be the ones to pay the price.

“People are going to say, ‘I don’t want to be waiting so long to cross the border,’ but the burden is going to be on those who go to work every day, and that is not fair to them,” he said.

The traffic can be seen for miles at Zona Rio in Tijuana on Sunday.

(Alejandro Tamayo/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Some of those waiting in line Monday morning said the restrictions are counter-productive. Retail workers Brenda Rodas and Alex Garcia, who both live in Tijuana and were crossing into San Diego on foot for their shifts, said the long border waits increase their chance of getting COVID-19.

Garcia said there is no social distancing in the pedestrian lanes nor in the CBP pedestrian processing facility, causing many essential workers like him to get sick.

“It concerns us,” he said. “Everyone is just trying to rush to get across the line that they forget how important it is to keep your distance. They haven’t been doing social distancing inside the CBP building for months.”

Rodas said their employer gives them no special consideration for being late because of unpredictable or long border waits. Garcia said that employer, whom they declined to name, sometimes writes them up for being late.

“Sometimes we only work like four-hour shifts,” Rodas said. “So we have to leave our house eight hours before our four-hour shift starts.”