This weekend, long lines of up to 10 hours were reported for crossing from Tijuana to San Diego, following new sanitary restrictions at the ports of entry. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said it is "taking steps to discourage non-essential travel to and from Mexico to limit the spread of COVID-19 in the United States.

A survey conducted by CBP revealed that more than 100 thousand travelers, the "vast majority" of whom are Americans and permanent residents, are crossing the southwest border for non-essential reasons. Travel between the U.S. and Mexico has been restricted for essential purposes since March and can only be crossed by U.S. citizens or those Mexicans with entirely essential reasons.

Customs officials in San Ysidro, Otay Mesa and Calexico West have been referring non-essential travelers for secondary screening where they are given a copy of the Centers for Disease Control's Travelers' Health Notice. The screenings take longer and have created a traffic and pedestrian crossings congestion.

The Tijuana Department of Public Safety has assigned additional officers to help control traffic in the city. The agency estimated that drivers took more than eight hours to cross, although users claim it took more than 10 hours to cross into the U.S. The delays caused major traffic jams within the city over the weekend.

CBP officials confessed that they believe these long waits caused people to stop crossing for non-essential activities.

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