SAN DIEGO — On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a new port of entry at the California-Mexico border with construction expected to begin January 2025.
Joaquín Luken grew up crossing the border between San Diego and Tijuana.
“The San Ysidro Port of Entry, the existing Otay Mesa Port of Entry, they’re stressed up to the nines,” he said. “People are still waiting, either on foot or by vehicle, for hours and hours.”
Luken now works for Smart Border Coalition, who tries to improve cross border mobility. He said the San Ysidro Port of Entry is one of the busiest land crossings in the world.
According to SANDAG, trade between the U.S. and Mexico supports more than 560,000 jobs in California, and the Otay Mesa Port of Entry is the busiest commercial vehicle crossing in California.
Newsom said the new crossing will support growing international trade as well as reduce wait times for businesses and workers.
“This is a significant economic development opportunity,” Newsom said. “It’s decades in the making.”
Newsom said the new Otay Mesa East Port of Entry will boost California’s economy by helping American businesses sell their goods to Mexico more efficiently, creating jobs and lowering costs for California consumers — all while the governor’s new CalGuard initiative enhances public safety by targeting the flow of guns, cash and drugs that fuel cartel violence.
Manuel Pastor is a professor at the University of Southern California, currently directs the Equity Research Institute at USC and holds a doctorate degree in economics. He said expanding crossing capabilities will help the region in countless ways.
“You could certainly see a boost in both Mexican manufacturing and the export of good to the United States, including auto parts, which we very much rely on; but also, U.S.-American commerce going to Mexico,” he said.
Gov. Newsom’s office said trade between California and Mexico through our land ports of entry was valued at more than $88 billion last year.
“Decades in the making and I think paints a different picture than a lot of the pictures that are painted as it relates to border conversations in this country,” Newsom said.
Luken is excited about what this new crossing could mean for the growth of the region.
“I grew up in Tijuana, and have been crossing the border all my life. It’s been a part of my life and to have a new port of entry opened would actually be the first in my lifetime,” said Luke. “To have this one, it would just be fantastic.”
Gov. Newsom says they plan to have the new crossing complete by December 2027.