Wait times to enter the U.S. at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa points of entry were as long as seven hours on Sunday following an adjustment to operations by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The adjustments are in response to a survey conducted by the CBP which asked travelers about the purpose of their trip to the U.S. They survey found that 60% of the people crossing the border into the U.S. were doing so for "non-essential" purposes.
While the CBP changes are intended to discourage non-essential travel to the U.S. and slow the spread of COVID-19, they are also having a crippling effect on essential workers who cross the border daily for work in the U.S., adding four or five hours to their workday because of the additional traffic and screening procedures. A look at the CBP real-time Wait Time grid, shows a spike at 4am, indicating workers are heading the border earlier to cross into the states.
A CBP spokesperson said, "We need people to think twice about non-essential travel and to ask themselves if the travel is worth risking their lives and the lives of others."
Some claim the restrictions, which are in place through September 21, 2020, aren't related to COVID-19, but are due to the CBP not employing enough agents to operate the number of gates needed to facilitate the volume of travelers.
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