Mexico/US: San Ysidro crossing closed amid caravan arrival Nov. 19 /update 2

Event

American authorities temporarily closed the San Ysidro border crossing between the US state of California and the Mexican state of Baja California on Monday, November 19. The closure reportedly comes as American authorities brought "reinforcement materials" to the border amid migrants' recent arrivals to Tijuana and an associated increase in social tensions and related demonstrations in the city.

The temporary closure of the San Ysidro entry port affects the vehicular and pedestrian crossing on its east side. Individuals seeking to enter the US from Mexico are limited to traveling through the Otay Mesa port and the pedestrian crossing in the west side of the San Ysidro crossing; individuals seeking to enter Mexico from the US are not affected. It is unclear how long the temporary closure will last. 

Further migrant arrivals are expected in Tijuana in the near term. A visible migrant presence (e.g. makeshift camps) is to be anticipated in Tijuana in the coming weeks as migrants wait for the opportunity to cross the border. A heightened security presence is to be expected near the US-Mexico border in the US states of California and Arizona over the coming days. Delays at border crossings in the US states of Texas and New Mexico are to be expected as officers in these states are redeployed to California and Arizona in anticipation of the arrivals of additional migrants from Central America.

Context

The caravan was initially expected to attempt to cross the border from the Mexican state of Tamaulipas into Texas. However, the caravan route has been rerouted to avoid more dangerous areas.

The initial group of migrants left San Pedro Sula (Honduras) on October 13, growing in size as it passed through Honduras and Guatemala. There are currently four caravans in total, including one originating in El Salvador.

Advice

Individuals in affected areas are advised to keep abreast of the situation, keep their distance from the caravans as a precaution, and be prepared for disruptions at land border crossings.

Copyright and Disclaimer
GardaWorld is the owner or licensee of all intellectual property rights in the material presented on this website. All such rights are reserved. The use of this website and its material is subject to the Terms of Use and accordingly you must not use any content from this website for commercial or other analogous purposes without our consent, including but not limited to any deep-linking or framing in order to copy, distribute, display or monitor any portion of the website. If you have any questions or are interested in distributing any content from this website, Contact us for more details.