SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Moises Gonzalez works for the Metropolitan Transit District in San Diego and commutes to work five days a week from Tijuana.
Since Jan. 4, he’s been using PedWest to cross the border and is enjoying the shorter waits to get into the U.S.
“It helps me to have more sleep and be more focused at work and stay more alert in my daily life,” he said. “Some people have to get up at 3 in the morning to get to work by 9 when it’s not open.”
Gonzalez said he’ll enjoy PedWest in the meantime, and he hopes it doesn’t close again.
The second pedestrian crossing at the San Ysidro Port of Entry has closed and reopened three times since January 2023.
The last time it closed was in mid-December when U.S. Customs and Border Protection decided to shut it down to border commuters while it transferred CBP officers to the field to help Border Patrol agents apprehend asylum seekers at the border.
“I do worry about if they close it because it goes off and on,” said Gonzalez. “I know it’s opened, then closed, that’s even more frustrating for people who cross every day. Why not leave it open and make it easier for them going back and forth?”
CBP has said for now, it doesn’t have plans to shut down PedWest for the foreseeable future.
It will remain open 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. in a northbound direction, and from 3 to 11 p.m. for people heading south into Tijuana.
“When they are open, it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s OK, this is good.’ Less stress for me and my mom, especially my mom because when they close it, I got more pressure, I’m counting my time, like, ‘ OK, we have to get up early at this time.’ We’re both tired she’s fatigued, it screws up a lot of things.”
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