Posted on 03/19/2016 3:04:24 PM PDT by Nero Germanicus
U.S. and Mexican authorities said this week that they are working to address concerns over a possible delay in the opening of a much-needed new pedestrian border entrance at the San Ysidro Border Crossing known as PedWest.
The entrance’s 12 new lanes are part of a $741 million reconfiguration of the San Ysidro Port of Entry, which is scheduled for completion in 2019. The U.S. General Services Administration, which is overseeing its construction, has announced that PedWest remains on schedule, and will be operational in June.
Fears of a delay have mounted in recent weeks after Mexican authorities said they lacked funds to complete their end of the project. Oscar Escobedo, Baja California’s tourism secretary, said early this week that Mexican federal officials had told their U.S. counterparts “that we have to wait because we don’t have the resources.”
Escobedo said Friday through a spokeswoman that he had since met with “the appropriate authorities,” in Mexico City. “They’re going to look for funding, but there is nothing yet.”
The lanes will be a critical piece of infrastructure for an average of 24,000 pedestrians who cross daily into the United States at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. At peak crossing times, many people now endure lengthy waits at the outdated existing 13-lane pedestrian entrance located east of the port’s vehicle lanes.
Pedestrians are still waiting two and three hours to get across the border,” said Jason Wells, executive director of the San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce, whose members rely heavily on the cross-border pedestrian traffic.
(Excerpt) Read more at sandiegouniontribune.com ...
Cry me a river... *bashes head against the desk*
Boo-Hoo....How about making it smaller rather than bigger?
Mexico cries poverty? BS. Not with my money you don’t
Build the wall.
How will they ever afford the wall?
believe that money has already been allocated and voted on...just never used since we don’t have any sunshine limits on anything this crooked government does...seriously we are bigger fools than the Russians, Chinese and Cubans...thinking we had something they didn’t...
misread...thought you talking about us paying
$741 million for a freaking POE!? Must be the only project in California not using Mexican labor.
Simple, just charge to use it. It is one of the busiest POEs on the south border, charge $5 a pop.
First of all, more lanes????
We need to be able to move people across our border faster?
Ah, no.
The new Cross Border Express bridge at the Tijuana Airport costs $12 per person one way to cross into the U.S. You must have an airline ticket, a boarding pass and a passport to use it.
Mexico has a trade inbalance in their favor of 87 billion per year and they cry poverty. BS
Forget this and wait for Trump to build a wall and customs at the border taking biometrics before they come in.
Put a 50% charge on wire remittances sending Illegals money back to Mexico, they are costing our county hundreds of billions in hospital bill, crime, welfare and food stamps.
Tens of billions more educating the illegals children.
Let them start paying their way. Fine the Scumbag Employers who hire illegals instead of Americans.
Slap tariffs on imports from Mexico from American businesses.
24,000 per day? Why are they coming here daily? Every last one of them needs to have a weekly visa. that way at least they will pay some tax for working illegally in the US.
Shopping at Outlet Stores right across the border plus Walmart and Costco and they do pay sales tax.
walmart has stores in mexico. I don’t know if they have costcos but I’m sure they must have something similar.
do we really need 20+ thousand mexicans swarming the border daily? Just at that one point?
70,000 persons walk or drive across the border daily for work. Those are commuters, many of whom are U.S. citizens who live in Mexico because its a lot cheaper to rent an apartment there.
Folks who commute in cars use “Sentri:” Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection
The Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection (SENTRI) is a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program that allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the United States. Participants may enter the United States by using dedicated primary lanes into the United States at Southern land border ports.
Travelers must be pre-approved for the SENTRI program. All applicants undergo a rigorous background check and in-person interview before enrollment. Applicants must voluntarily undergo a thorough biographical background check against criminal, law enforcement, customs, immigration, and terrorist indices; a 10-fingerprint law enforcement check; and a personal interview with a Customs & Border Patrol Officer.
In addition to daily work commuters, “a Visa and passport are not required of a Mexican national who is in possession of a Form DSP-150, B-1/B-2 Visa and Border Crossing Card, containing a machine-readable biometric identifier, issued by the Department of State and is applying for admission as a temporary visitor for business or pleasure from contiguous territory by land or sea.”
That sounds like government regulations. FUBAR. :)
Yep! :-)
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