Normal waits reported at San Ysidro after Mexico border checkpoint reopens after shooting

If you’re driving to or from Mexico today through the San Ysidro Port of Entry near San Diego, you can expect the usual waits of 45 minutes to an hour, not the hours of backups that plagued the checkpoint last night after a shooting incident, officials said this morning.

After the shootout involving U.S. agents and a convoy of suspected smugglers Tuesday afternoon that injured several people, all 24 northbound lanes were shut, said Angelica De Cima, spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in San Diego.  At 8 p.m., half the lanes were reopened, and at 4 a.m. today, the rest were reopened.  Southbound lanes were not affected by the closures, she added.

As of 9 a.m. today, Customs and Border Protection was reporting 45-minute delays for passenger vehicles at San Ysidro, after posting hourlong delays earlier this morning, which is pretty normal there, the spokeswoman said.  The agency regularly posts and updates a chart showing wait times for commercial and passenger vehicles and pedestrians at various checkpoints.

—Jane Engle, assistant Los Angeles Times Travel editor

Photo: A federal agent with a security dog watches vehicles waiting to enter the U.S. on Tuesday at the San Ysidro border crossing near San Diego. Credit: Lenny Ignelzi / Associated Press

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 10:02 am by Jane Engle and is filed under Baja California, Business Travel, Cabo San Lucas, California, Latin America & Caribbean, Mexico, News, Tips & Advice, San Diego. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.