CBP (Customs and Border Protection) revealed that, starting on Saturday, December 9, 2023, the PedWest border crossing will be closed once again for an indefinite amount of time.

This is due to an increase in migrant processing demand that has recently occurred at the Mexico-US border, including San Diego County.

That's why, starting this weekend, the crossing known as "El Chaparral" will be closed once again to pedestrians trying to cross into the US in order to prioritize immigrants.

In addition, they spoke about a high chance of delays of vehicles crossing to San Ysidro due to a lack of personnel which is due to the fact that some officials and executives have to handle asylum requests.

Third closure of PedWest since 2020

This announcement means that this is the third time that the PedWest border crossing will be closed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when the Mexico-US border was forced to remain closed in order to stop the virus' spread.

It was until January 9, 2023 when CBP authorities decided to open this port of entry again as COVID-19 cases had decreased due to a worldwide immunization campaign, with the pandemic officially ending on May 5, 2023.

However, on September 14, the San Ysidro Improvement Corporation (SYIC) issued a statement where they revealed that the border crossing was going to be closed again for a period of time.

On this occasion, the reason for this closure was also the processing of migrants. It was reopened on November 15, just in time for the Christmas season, but, unfortunately, it is not going to stay open for even a month.

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