New Pedestrian Crossing Unveiled in Tijuana Sandra Dibble - The San Diego Union Tribune
go to original August 20, 2015

Mexican customs inspectors at the inauguration of Mexico's new pedestrian entry on Tijuana's border with San Ysidro. (Alejandro Tamayo)

A new entrance to Mexico for pedestrians opened Wednesday at San Ysidro - a modern, three-story facility that authorities say will transform the experience of entering Mexico for some 22,000 southbound border crossers each day.

The $6.9 million structure, Puerta Este Mexico-San Ysidro, represents a new way of doing business at the border for Mexico, as the federal government seeks control of who comes into the country. With the new facilities, immigration officials are preparing to step up enforcement of a rule stipulating that foreigners present passports when entering Mexico, and requiring that those on business or who plan to stay for more than a week pay a 330-peso fee, about $21.

The new facility answers a need to “offer adequate, modern, comfortable, efficient, rapid and friendly service,” said Luis Videgaray, Mexico’s secretary of finance and public credit, one of a number of high-ranking U.S. and Mexican officials attending the Wednesday inauguration.

Authorities said that the building will be a model that can be replicated at other crossings as Mexico upgrades its border infrastructure. For the first time, foreigners will be processed in separate lines from Mexican nationals.

Read the rest at The San Diego Union Tribune

Related: Foreigners Being Checked Before Allowed to Walk Into Mexico (Associated Press)

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