Working men have no country
Interviews from the San Diego/Tijuana San Ysidro border crossing as closure looms
By
Norisa Diaz
21 September 2017
The San Diego, California/San Ysidro, Baja California border crossing is busiest in the world, and will be closed to all southbound traffic for a 52-hour period this next weekend from September 23 until noon on Monday, September 25. Traffic is to be redirected some 10 miles away to the Otay Mesa crossing, which has far less capacity.
The temporary closure of the San Ysidro Port of Entry will have significant consequences for the tens of thousands who cross daily. Every day 70,000 passenger vehicles, 20,000 pedestrians, and 4,000 commercial trucks cross back and forth at this entry point.
In an effort to ease tensions over the closure the U.S. General Services Administration, which is administering the project, selected a weekend where the students from the Sweetwater School District which stretches along the border are on Fall break.
Reporters from the World Socialist Web Site spoke with workers last weekend at the US/Mexico border crossing in San Diego about the upcoming closure and how the border affects their lives. All of the people interviewed cross daily or weekly, bisecting every aspect of their lives.
Jorge told WSWS reporters that he crosses weekly to purchase clothes for resale, which are very expensive in Mexico. He and his family have obtained a visitor’s visa which allows him to make the crossing a few times a week, but doesn’t allow him to work in the US. “It’s a lot easier to obtain this visa as a family. My wife and two children and I have it, but it’s very hard to get as single person because they think you won’t come back.”
Jorge buys clothes every week and sells them at an open market. He is…