'San Ysidro' is a community within the city of
San Diego, California. It is located in the southernmost part of
San Diego County, California, immediately north of the
international border with
Mexico. It was annexed by the city of San Diego in
1957. Although the independent municipalities of National City, Chula Vista, Coronado, and Imperial Beach lie in between San Ysidro and the rest of San Diego, the two areas are connected by a narrow 400ft wide city boundary line that runs over the San Diego Bay. Thus, it is possible to travel across water from San Diego to San Ysidro without leaving city limits.
San Ysidro is named for
San Ysidro Labrador (Saint Isidore),
patron saint of farmers. Furthermore, San Ysidro is the site of one the nation's first communes; started by an Ellsworth Smythe in 1908.
[1]
Border crossing
Traffic in
Tijuana,
Mexico waiting at the San Ysidro port of entry.
Cars and pedestrians in San Ysidro entering Mexico.
San Ysidro is home to the world's busiest land border crossing, where U.S.
Interstate 5 crosses into Mexico at
Tijuana. In U.S. fiscal year 2005, more than 17 million vehicles and 50 million people entered the U.S. at the San Ysidro
port of entry. The great majority of these are workers (both of Mexican and U.S. nationality) commuting from Tijuana to jobs in the greater San Diego area and throughout southern California. There is also a thriving reverse traffic, both of workers traveling to
maquiladoras in Mexico and those purchasing services (vehicle repairs, hair and beauty services, childcare, medical or dental) or seeking entertainment in Tijuana. Crossing times are notoriously slow at San Ysidro, particularly for those entering the U.S. in cars. For this reason many cross on foot, the line for which is frequently much faster than the vehicle line. Some foot travelers own a car in each country, and store them in one of the large parking lots located near the border post, or use the respective
public transportation systems of both cities (both systems have a bus station built solely to serve the border crossing point, and the
San Diego Trolley runs from downtown San Diego to the border crossing).
Beach in Tijuana at the border.
Many people frequently visit the
fence that separates the beaches at the international border (known as ''Playas de Tijuana'' in Mexico, and ''Border Field State Beach'' in the United States). On Sundays in particular, people go to speak to their friends and family members through the rusty fence, all under the careful eye of
U.S. Border Patrol personnel who watch with binoculars from the hillside nearby.
State Page
Crime
San Ysidro is also believed to be among the busiest sites for the importation of
illegal drugs into the U.S. Much of this is smuggled in cars or trucks, but some is transported through one of the custom-built tunnels constructed by narcotraffickers under the border.
Central to the Tijuana drug trade is the
Tijuana Cartel, also known as the Arellano-Felix Organization (AFO).
In
1984 a
spree killing occurred at a
McDonald's restaurant in the community, when
James Oliver Huberty killed 21 people before himself being shot and killed by police officers (see ''
McDonald's massacre'').
On
May 18,
2006, the border crossing was closed for nine hours after federal authorities shot and killed the driver of a car bound for Mexico, just 50 feet north of the Port of Entry. The vehicle was reportedly seen picking up illegal immigrants.
[2]
Due to crime that originates from
Tijuana, and corruption within several government organizations of Mexico, there have been several border incursions by Mexican officials into southern San Diego.
[3]
See also
★
San Diego-Tijuana Metropolitan Area
External links
★
San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce
★
Catholic Forum's page on Saint Isadore
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