Bulletin
July 22, 2021
Once
again, restrictions to non-essential travel have been extended for yet another
month. The border communities were
notified on July 19th, just two days ago. I thought that last month would be
the final month of full restrictions, but it is status quo once again.
It appears that industry groups
see Jeff Zients, coordinator of the White House’s coronavirus pandemic
response, as the main obstacle standing in the way of lifting the restrictions.
It is ironic that the WH has not communicated the public health criteria for
lifting these restrictions. When our region has reached herd immunity on both
sides of the border, what is stopping us? Is it immigration issues? Increases
in drug trafficking? Lack of staffing at CBP?
When detailed communication
does not exist on the subject of what will get us back to a pre-covid crossing
environment, speculation runs amok, feeding uncertainty and wild theories.
*****
On
June 28th our coalition hosted the Mexican Federal Government delegation that signed
the Memorandum of Understanding with Caltrans and SANDAG for the Port of
Otay Mesa East. The memorandum stated both countries’ desire to start
operating the port by September 2024, only 38 months away. I applaud
Caltrans’ and SANDAG’s efforts in
making this happen. They have relentlessly pursued this ambitious project that
will mark an historic watershed for border crossings along the entire
U.S.-Mexico border.
Our coalition was fortunate
enough to offer a luncheon to most of the delegation at the University Club. I want to thank Consul General Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez
for his initiative in making this opportunity possible.
*****
During the luncheon, some of
the learnings from top officials of the Foreign
Relations Ministry (SRE), the Communications and Transportation Ministry (SCT)
and the Customs Authority (SAT) were as follows:
The Future Otay Mesa East
Port of Entry
§ On the Mexican side, 35% of the Otay Mesa East right-of-way
has been acquired. This includes the port area and the roadway leading to it.
The SCT will step up efforts to complete acquisitions by December 2021.
§ The formal project for the port is almost finished. This
will be a guide for similar projects along the border.
§ The roadway to the port will be managed as a public-private
partnership. The private entity has not been chosen.
§ The North American Development Bank (NADB) will not get
involved until a private company has been chosen.
§ The future Otay Mesa East Port of Entry and the eight new
lanes on the Mexican side at the existing San Ysidro Port of Entry are priority
projects for the Foreign Ministry and SCT. The eight new lanes have been
finished. They are waiting for the lifting of restrictions to get started.
§ SCT will be implementing a new wait time system currently
being installed (Wi-Fi readers in various lanes and points beyond the border)
in Tijuana and Mexicali. This technology will be part of an intelligent transportation
network that will help northbound crossers make best decisions as to when and
where to cross.
§ SAT needs to work with CBP to make sure it agrees on the
information it receives from cargo and border crossers before they arrive at
the ports. Much more communication between the agencies is required.
Tijuana
Water Treatment and Replenishment
§ Mexico is finishing details on the new CILA (Comisión Internacional de Límites y Aguas
or Mexican section of the International Boundary and Water Commission) station
pump. This will be helpful in preventing more untreated water from crossing the
border.
§ An important unresolved issue is how to respond to flooding.
Border Infrastructure in General
§ The Mexican federal government’s strategy for border
infrastructure is to create public-private partnerships (PPP) for roads, water and
other matters. They will rely heavily on private enterprise so long as there is
a clear source of revenue. “They” is unclear: the government or the
partnerships? Rewrite this last sentence?
§ Interested parties can submit formal projects for border
infrastructure on the Mexican side to two individuals:
·
For road infrastructure: Rogelio Rivero Marquez, Highway Development Director,
Communications and Transportation Ministry.
·
For water infrastructure: Pablo Galvez Yturbe, Director for Border Issues, Foreign
Relations Ministry.
Please
contact me for further information about this.
*****
On
June 30th the Smart Border Coalition, the Institute of the
Americas, the Consulate General of Mexico and the Center for
U.S.-Mexican Studies bade farewell to U.S. Consul General Sue Saarnio onboard the USS
Midway Museum.
The
occasion was one of the first for in-person meetings with binational
stakeholders since the start of the pandemic.
I
pointed out in my remarks that Sue has seen, as El Tercer País
author Michael Malone has stated, “two cities on opposite sides of the border,
two different cultures that are cross-pollinating on a continuous basis and
more and more as the border opens up and the freedom of movement increases.
That is a powerful thing. This region has a singular future, a destiny, and
your great work has added to this future in spades. It’s up to us to decide if
we want to grasp for it or not.”
We
presented Sue, who served as an honorary coalition board member, with a crystal
award that read: “We salute you for your strong advocacy for the binational
interests of the CaliBaja region, promoting the best of our community, our
relations, and our culture. We thank you for being an integral part of our
organization.”
*****
I appreciate U.S. Customs and Border Protection San
Diego Sector Director of Field Operations Pete Flores’s openness in the
start of a frank discussion on wait times with some of the Smart Border
Coalition board members. We had an opportunity to better understand the factors
that impact wait times and to propose approaches to reduce wait times in the
short and long run.
There is something very
satisfying and powerful about having candid discussions on critical topics with
our government agencies.
*****
I had coffee with a
well-known infrastructure company that coordinates large projects out of its
Los Angeles headquarters. They let me know that the administrations of the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles
are willing to fund transportation efforts to move ship containers to Ensenada
instead of arriving in the U.S.
You may know of the
container saturation issue in those ports. Most Asian exports to the United
States arrive there, to the tune of more than one trillion dollars each year.
The Government of the State of Baja California should immediately open
a conversation with the ports to make investments in the port of Ensenada and surrounding areas to
create a rail logistics hub between Ensenada and Tijuana/Tecate to move
containers by rail to the border once they arrive by boat. In the meantime,
cargo movement on land could start with trucks only.
*****
Our region’s
public broadcasting station, KPBS, is opening a South County San Diego bureau.
This is very positive news for the binational community, as it reflects the
growing importance of the most dynamic area in San Diego County and its
neighbor Tijuana. During coffee with Alex
Kim of KPBS, I told him that instead of only programming human interest
stories, they should go deeper into the binational integration opportunities we
have, still awaiting a media outlet to discover them.
What will the next 5-10 years of the binational relationship look like
and who is starting to write this story? What of binational efforts in the life
sciences, biotech, film, fashion, and software development industries? Cross-border
employment and education? How can KPBS look at our water treatment issue in a
different way, less politicized, with solutions at the source of the problem
(Tijuana treatment system) instead of on the U.S. side?
*****
Casey Durst, executive director, Operations at U.S.
Customs and Border Protection in Washington, D.C., addressed the Border Trade Alliance recently and let
us know that RFID capability is coming to all ports to obtain correct wait
times. Congress is also allocating $800
million for non-intrusive
inspection technology at the southwest border.
This is all part of a new concept of operations called the “Border of the Future,” where command
centers will be vetting cargo at each port. CBP has two working prototypes in Brownsville and Anzalduas, Texas for cargo and passenger vehicles. There will be 84
systems set up across the southern border, 34 for cargo and 50 for passenger vehicles.
The deployment is expected for the 2022-2023 fiscal year.
The objective for scanning rates for cargo is 90% from the current 16-17%, and for passenger vehicles it would go
from 2% to 40% to make a dent in the
drug cartel operation. CBP is also piloting facial recognition for vehicles.
The agency’s staffing has been quite successful as of late. There are
close to 10,000 applicants. Onboarding an officer takes 56 weeks on average.
In the last six months there has been a keen re-engagement from U.S. and
Mexican authorities and agencies to share information, improve joint
inspections, and, in general, finding efficiencies in day-to-day port
operations.
*****
David Shirk, professor
and chair of the
Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of San Diego met with me
as part of his support for the McNair
Scholars Program which serves high-achieving USD undergraduates who are
committed to pursuing a Ph.D. or other graduate degree.
He has been guiding senior Allyson Teague in her work on a
project to better understand our binational region. It is motivating to see
students from the Midwest or east coast realize just how unique this region is
and devote so much attention to it.
*****
Al Zapanta, President
of the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce,
wants to establish better ties to San Diego and Tijuana. Marlen Marroquin, CEO of the Southern California chapter and a good
friend of our coalition, joined Al to discuss border issues with Vincent Blocker and me.
Zapanta is searching for
more regional content to help focus his organization’s attention on the pulse
at the border. He can support what we do here by taking our most significant
needs and issues to Washington insiders, congressional representatives, and
organizations to keep us relevant in D.C.
*****
The University of California at San Diego’s downtown
campus at 1100 Market Street is
quite a gem of a building. I visited with construction coordinator and
soon-to-be building manager, Todd Miller. The building will open its doors on
October 1st and will have four distinctive floors for many different
purposes, including theater, film, digital productions, co-working space,
private offices, classrooms, gym, large conference space, and small conference
rooms.
The underlying philosophy is
to congregate many disciplines to produce not only great ideas but better
implementations. The San Diego Economic
Development Corporation, the Qualcomm Institute, and the Burnham Center for
Community Advancement will all be housed there, among other high quality
organizations and companies.
*****
The periodic CBP
Passenger Meeting convened on July 13th. Here are the
highlights:
· San
Ysidro Port of Entry:
pedestrian crossings are only 10% below pre-covid levels. Passenger vehicles
are 15-20% below pre-covid numbers.
· Otay
Mesa Port of Entry:
o
Cargo
volume from October through May was 60%
greater than the previous October-May period. Passenger vehicles are already at
88% of pre-covid traffic.
o
Modernization
is proceeding on schedule, with the new pedestrian ramp – pedestrian bridge
connection to be completed by early September. CBP expects the General Services
Administration to release the commercial annex, the SENTRI processing, and the
Food and Drug Administration buildings in January 2022. Cargo inspection lanes
will go from 10 to 16 in March. The modernization of the pedestrian facility
will begin in March.
· Tecate Port of Entry: there has
been a noticeable reduction in wait times due to use of cargo lanes for
passenger vehicles.
· CBX is above pre-covid numbers even
though Mexican nationals are not allowed to cross into the United States. It will
conclude an expansion from four to eight lanes (double stacked booths) by
November.
Most of the
increase in travelers comes from U.S. citizens and Green Card holders. There
are some H-2 visa workers and B1 or B2 visa people traveling for essential
reasons.
*****
The
City of San Diego International Affairs Board met on July 14. This was
my first meeting as a proud member of this diverse group of intelligent and
enthusiastic people seeking to amplify the relationships established with
cities and countries all over the world as well as to create new relationships.
Mayor Gloria has been quite diligent in
advocating for the lifting of border restrictions with DHS Secretary Alejandro
Mayorkas. The mayor’s global affairs
staff is working on the next iteration of the U.S.-Mexico Border Mayors
Conference.
Congratulations
are in order for Malin Burnham and Tad Parzen for launching the Burnham
Center for Community Advancement (BCCA) https://burnhamcenter.org/ where “good ideas
aren’t enough…we’re here to get work done.” I am a member of the advisory
committee and have had several meetings with Malin and Tad about big projects
for the binational region. The BCCA is a top-notch platform --a think-and-do
tank-- that is ready and willing to take on hard problems and issues.
*****
The
Mexican federal government has given its customs authority more
independence by reporting directly to the Ministry of Tax and Public Credit
(Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público, SHCP). It had been reporting to the
Tax Authority (SAT). Now, both SAT and the new customs authority report to
SHCP. The new organization will be called Administración Nacional de Aduanas (ANA). Another sea change is that the military apparatus will be
managing the new group.
This
could have serious implications for the binational relationship, particularly
for operational improvements and efficiency generation at land ports. The
reorganization will take time to stabilize and could put on hold projects
requiring agreement between customs authorities of both our countries.
Thank you,
Gustavo De La Fuente
Executive Director
gdelafuente@smartbordercoalition.com
(619) 814-1386
