Bulletin
February 23, 2021
“Let’s finish the Otay Mesa East Port of
Entry by 2023”, the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar dared the 40-person
audience at the site of the new port last week. Though the stated deadline is
fall of 2024, everyone seemed to agree that getting the port done even sooner
is an admirable objective. But is it feasible?
What was the Ambassador’s intention? All key actors in the port’s
completion –on both sides—took the dare very seriously, and I suspect we will
be hearing from them soon. Salazar seems to be in a hurry, what with all the
backlog of infrastructure projects we have along the U.S.-Mexico border.
There are lingering questions. The new port
is not just about a construction. Staffing it is just as important. It is the
greatest unknown at this time on the U.S. side. Will our Congressional
delegation deliver on appropriations for this or will the port’s tolls foot the
bill? On the Mexican side, we still need to make sure the right of way is
actually acquired so that work can begin soon thereafter.
Being an optimist and understanding the
stakes, I believe all kinks will be ironed out in time for a 2024 launch.
*****
Jorge
Gutiérrez is
the new mobility “czar” for Baja California. He heads IMOS, the Sustainable Mobility Institute. If anyone knows about the
subject it is Jorge, a.k.a. “Bibi” Gutiérrez. He addressed the Tijuana Development Council’s board in
late January and spoke about a whole slew of projects the new state
administration is taking a close look at, including a trolley to take Tijuana
workers to the San Ysidro Port of Entry as well as a new toll road straddling
the international line that will connect the Tijuana Airport to Playas de
Tijuana, with an exit at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. The executive plan for
this project is almost complete. There are funds from the Mexican Customs Fund
that have been earmarked to the tune of $500 million dollars.
IMOS will also manage the regulation of vehicles imported
illegally into Tijuana.
*****
The City of Tijuana,
the California Air Resources Board and CalEPA have signed an
agreement to provide the City with 50 air pollution sensors. This is an
important
breakthrough where I was
involved. I am glad to see that both sides agreed on an MOU to deliver the
units. Though they are not grade AAA sensors which are upwards of $150,000
each, the information they will capture will help Tijuana ascertain where the
most congested areas are and will enable the City to educate its citizens about
measures to mitigate pollution levels.
*****
“Pre-vetting”
and “pre-clearance” will become familiar words in the CBP jargon in the next decade. The
agency is already using facial recognition or “simplified arrival” at all
pedestrian ports. It is close to launching a pre-vetting feature on the CBP1 App for pedestrians at San Ysidro,
where they reserve a crossing time. Many will balk at using it at first, but if
people see the value, they will use it.
Already, the CBP1 App is being used for I-94s (Tourist visas). This is one of
the first steps in moving travelers to using their smart phones to communicate
with the agency.
*****
The next iteration of the Border Innovation Challenge is underway. Smart Border Coalition and Rady
School of Management will be coordinators and will enlist a national
organization to boost the scope of the competition. We plan on doing the public
event in early December.
The Challenge seeks ideas and business plans from
students and entrepreneurs on both sides of the border to solve logistics
issues in and around the ports of entry. We want to increase the scope of
competitors this year by adding creative projects in the medical, tourism,
manufacturing, and software development categories.
Let’s remember that a “smart” border is really about a
narrative that highlights how to use a highly connected network of people to
improve the cross-border relationship. This relationship is expressed in
different areas, from logistics, to manufacturing, to transportation, to public
health and tourism.
*****
The CaliBaja
Crossing Experience Group held important meetings to solidify its intent to
improve the customer experience when crossing the border. Kudos to Mario López of Sempra/IEnova, Paco Fimbres of Calimax, Kenia Zamarripa of the San Diego
Regional Chamber, David Pérez
Tejada of the Baja California Government, Paty Hernández of the Tijuana EDC, Laura Araujo of Tijuana Innovadora and
the World Design Capital, Sarah Moga Alemany of the City of San Diego and many others who are part
of this outstanding group and keep things moving.
*****
We celebrated an historic occasion last Monday the 14th,
Valentine’s Day, at the site of the Otay
Mesa East Port of Entry. The meeting of binational leaders underscored the
latest port milestones on both sides of the border, bringing the project closer
to reality in 2024. The significance of a meeting attended by the Lieutenant
Governor of California, the Governor of California and the U.S. Ambassador to
Mexico cannot be overstated.
- On the California
side, all connecting roads to the port have been built. Caltrans and SANDAG have been
right on schedule and are now eyeing a bond issue to pay for the port
itself. The guarantee will be a percentage of toll revenue. The toll will
be distributed between the U.S. and Mexico, marking the very first time
something like this has ever happened in a land port between our
countries.
- Rogelio Rivero, Director of Highway Development for the
Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation Ministry of Mexico, stated that there is already an agreement to purchase
90% of the right of way and that the balance is under negotiation.
He added that they have in place the executive plan for the construction
of the access road to the port. This is a road that will be bid out to a
private company. Sempra’s gas lines as well as the Mexican Electricity
Commission’s (CFE) towers will be relocated. There is already an agreement
with CFE to move the towers and the agreement with Sempra is close to
being signed.
- Dr. Calixto Mateos, Nadbank Director, told the audience that the bank will be the custodian
for toll revenues and for their distribution to each country. This role
recognizes the importance of the bank’s commitment to the region and will
surely spark additional involvement in Tijuana and Baja California
Projects.
- The State Government of Baja California has been a catalyst for the follow up and commitments
for the new port of entry. Governor Avila of Baja California sees the port
as a must for her public administration. She has met with the Mexican army
corps of engineers to follow up on build outs and has established a
working group with the Mexican Foreign Relations and the Communications
and Transportation Ministries.
- Ambassador Ken Salazar posed a challenge to both sides of the border. He
asked that the port be finished in 2023, not 2024.
*****
As if to stress the importance of the Otay Mesa East Port of Entry project,
President Andrés Manuel López
Obrador toured the site of the port in Tijuana along with Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard
and U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar on
February 17th. Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila
was their host. Her government has been a strong supporter of the projects and
has been in frequent communication with the Mexican Army Corps of
Engineers,
the Infrastructure,
Communications and Transportation and
Foreign Relations Ministries.
******
Mexican Chef Pati
Jinich is preparing a food/border narrative extravaganza this fall, when a
dynamic cohort of Tijuana and San Diego friends hopes to bring her here to
record her highly successful “La Frontera” program which aired nationally on KPBS last year and had over 1.3 million
views in its first showing. That show was about border culture and food from El Paso/Juárez to Laredo/Nuevo Laredo.
This time, the show will feature the Western border,
focusing on CaliBaja (please see https://patijinich.com/). The show will use “breaking bread” to
discuss, describe and debate the great stories we have and the future we want.
If anyone is interested in being a sponsor or contributing to this noble
production, please let me know.
Pati has won the prestigious James Beard Award, recognizing culinary professionals in the Unites
States, 3 times and is a New York Times
best selling author, among many other accomplishments.
*****
South
County EDC’s board meetings always deliver important
content and the meeting on February 1st was no exception. Héctor
Vanegas and Phil Thom
of SANDAG explained the extent of
the $163 billion “5 Big Moves” that
the agency has been promoting for the last 3 years. They described the
“complete corridors project” that integrates pedestrians, bikes, cars, buses
and trolleys and the next generation of bus rapid transit to connect all
points. The largest part of the transportation transformation project are by
far the mobility hubs and flexible
fleets.
One aspect that keeps coming up about these new services
is how they will impact our large transborder
community. The story is that we have a whole
city that makes its way to San Diego County every morning. Think of 140,000
people coming across every day –this would be the third largest city in the County after San Diego and Chula Vista.
Some view this as the “19th city”. It is not entirely clear how we
–San Diego and Tijuana—will manage this, but there are some important conversations
happening.
There is a purple line connecting CBX with a central mobility hub. This will probably happen in the
next 7-10 years and assuming voters will vote a majority “Yes” on the “5 Big Moves” initiative. There are
talks that Tijuana will make a trolley
available to take an important percentage of its workforce to the San Ysidro Port of Entry. There are
even some conversations about building a cable
car line to connect Tijuana with the border. A more feasible project is a toll road connecting Tijuana’s airport
with San Yisdro and Playas. It will be entirely paid for with federal
government money ($500 million dollars).
It is important
that whatever Tijuana
does, there needs to be an honest and productive conversation with SANDAG.
*****
The Border Trade Alliance (BTA) has been thinking about how to enhance the
“21st Century Customs Framework” developed by Customs and Border
Protection with inputs from multiple stakeholders across the Unites States.
It has been striking to see how that framework is still too U.S.-centric, when
it should be North America-centric. A clear example of this is the fact that no
one until the BTA decided to consider it had spoken about sharing eManifests
(the electronic lists that describe cargo transported by an exporter, presented
to Customs and Border Protection) between the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
This would avoid the current
three separate systems with different rules. This is easier said than done, but
it speaks to all the work we need to do in trade and in so many other areas to
harmonize procedures.
*****
Redirecting Sea of Cortez water
to Laguna Salada in Mexicali and then to the Salton Sea to
avoid erosion and pollution sounds like a tall order, but there is one
organization that is trying to do just that. Agess, Inc. is a California
company that is thinking binationally in terms of putting water back into the
empty Laguna Salada and supporting the Salton Sea as a consequence. The project
is still in its beginning phase and is looking for buy-in from Mexico.
Fortunately, the State of California has identified $300 million in funding
–already in the bank—for the Salton Sea. As a benefit corporation, Agess would
design and coordinate the project. A yet-to-be-determined non-profit would own the
assets, and each state would own the projects.
*****
The California Legislature
is thinking binationally about water. Assemblymember José
Medina has led the effort to
plug in another $20 million in funding for the State of California to use in
watersheds on the Mexican side of the border. Edgar Ruiz of The
Council of State Governments West (https://csgwest.org/) has been
instrumental in making sure that Baja California is part of the team that will
set guidance and rules for the use of these funds.
Francisco Bernal, Secretary of Water for Baja
California, has been studying ways in
which Río Nuevo and Río Tijuana areas can benefit. The California money must have some matching funds in
Mexico so that both sides have “skin in the game”.
*****
With the disbanding of the
migrant encampment at El Chaparral, the stage is now set to reopen PedWest,
or so it seems. In our CBP Passenger Working Group meeting this month,
we learned there is no guarantee the pedestrian port will open anytime soon.
The issue, as you may have surmised, is staffing. There are finite resources to
open it based on the priority needs at PedEast and staffing the many lanes at
San Ysidro.
CBP is a complex organization
where there is a long onboarding process for officers, where the officer academy
closed during the pandemic (it has recently reopened), where there is moderate-to-high
turnover and where frequent overtime use impacts demeanor and morale.
The staffing need in the coming
3 years is large: San Ysidro added 8 lanes with its recent expansion but
still lacks personnel for them; CBX just doubled its lanes two weeks ago;
Otay Mesa will go from 6 to 12 pedestrian lanes this year and cargo will
have 6 more lanes this year; Calexico will go from 10 to 16 lanes for
its pedestrians; and Otay Mesa East will require several hundred
officers by summer of 2024.
In light of this, it is clear
that organizations like the Smart Border Coalition must strongly advocate with
our elected officials and the White House to make the case for staffing and for
political will to reduce wait times.
*****
In our conversations about Customs and Border Protection port management, there is a topic we
discuss but rarely bring up with the agency: Traveler complaints. I realize there is some trepidation from some
or many of you to express your dissatisfaction about your experience at booths.
We typically remember our negative experiences but quickly forget about the
positive ones.
I’ve learned, however, that things are not always what
they seem. This week I was part of a very productive, substantive and frank
discussion with CBP about the challenges faced at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
I brought up the issue of the traveler/customer
experience as a whole and focused on traveler complaints. What was striking was
that the agency is making a number of efforts to better manage the traveler
experience. Most of you may not know this, but there is in fact a San Ysidro Professionalism Service
Management (PSM) Unit. There are
two individuals there who process both compliments and complaints. The primary
point of contact for this is Supervisory
CBP Officer Silvia Vargas (619-662-2290). I hope you share this
information with your networks, and let’s use this channel wisely and
responsibly.
*****
I’ve known Shawn van Diver
of Consulting Company Deloitte for the last 7 years or so. Other than
his important role in linking his great company to many global projects and border
work. Shawn is involved in
multiple civic activities. One of these is Afghan Evac https://afghanevac.org)
, a “coalition of private, non-profit, government, and
all-volunteer organizations focused on deconflicting communications, effort,
and systemic issues across the full enterprise of efforts focused on helping
Afghans evacuate and resettle safely, swiftly, and within the bounds of the
law.”
Until he let me and a larger
group of colleagues know about it, I didn’t know there was a citizen effort
that was born out of “similar and
heartbreaking circumstances: an unexpected text from their former Afghan
interpreter or driver who remained behind; a call for help from the allies who
became family following their resettlement in the US; a desperate plea from the
patriot who volunteered to work side-by-side with US troops in support of our
mission.”
This
goes to show that many of the people who care for the binational relationship
also do great work in other areas and put San Diego and Tijuana on the map
while doing so. It is also an example of how an urgent issue gets an organized
and timely resolution. This is food for thought as to how we must approach the
issues we have at the border.
*****
The Sonoran Institute’s
Senior Director of Programs, Francisco Zamora, (https://sonoraninstitute.org/)
spoke with me about their efforts to clean the Rio Nuevo delta in
Mexicali. The Institute’s mission is to “drop by drop, restore flowing rivers
and healthy landscapes to enable all people and nature to thrive.”
The Mexicali lagoon system has
been polluted primarily by salts and nitrogen coming from the valley’s fields
and by illegal raw sewage releases from industry. Both Calexico and Mexicali
residents have borne the brunt of this untenable situation.
Zamora and colleagues have
created a master plan for the lagoon system that focuses on solutions based on
wetland habitat restoration. Their budget is $8.5 million over 3 years and have
applied for CalEPA funding.
*****
Tom Davis, creator of a program in National City called “16 Weeks of STEAM”
(https://nc16weeksofsteam.org/)
visited my office last week to ask for support but mainly to see how we can
replicate this great program in Baja California. Tom created the successful
program and has paid for it essentially out of his own pocket for the last 3
years.
Born in National City, he is an
accomplished professional and at 6’5”, he is a basketballer who still plays in
international events in his age group. He never forgets his Mexican heritage
(his mother was Mexican) and wants to continue giving back to Hispanic and
Mexican youngsters through his program.
He is aware that “STEAM careers can positively impact the socio economic
vitality of the region.”
I can see how 16 Weeks of STEAM
could be turned into a binational program connecting elementary school kids in
Tijuana with school children in San Diego. We have good examples of
cross-border university connections, but we do not have much in terms of connections
at a younger stage.
*****
Our next online Stakeholders
Working Committee meeting will convene on March 3rd from
9:00a.m. to 11:00a.m. The event is virtual –hopefully for the last time.
Register in advance for this
meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYtdOurrz8qHtRYWQZ6uKbjrdjDNgIBboiY
After registering, you will
receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Sincerely,
Gustavo De La Fuente
Executive Director
gdelafuente@smartbordercoalition.com / (619) 814-1386
