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San Ysidro News

New SENTRI Lane Opens at San Ysidro Port of Entry

Friday, June 10, 2005

San Ysidro, California.- U.S. and Mexican government officials gathered today to inaugurate two new SENTRI vehicle traffic lanes at the San Ysidro port of entry. There are now four fast-pass traffic lanes available at the world's busiest land border crossing to process travelers and vehicles that have passed background checks and inspections.

"U.S. Customs and Border Protection is working to expand SENTRI and other expedited traveler programs around the country," stated Robert C. Bonner, Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. "The addition of the fourth SENTRI lane at the San Ysidro port of entry will help CBP officers to quickly process low-risk, pre-approved travelers so that we can focus our attention on identifying potential terrorists, criminals and others who attempt to exploit our borders for illegal purposes."

Following a press conference, officials from both countries swung open a gate to open the fourth SENTRI lane that is expected to facilitate the processing of some of the over 7,200 cars that enter the U.S. each day through the fast-pass lanes at the world's busiest land border station. The gate, located just north of the U.S.-Mexico border, will allow the flexible use of the newest lane to process both SENTRI and normal vehicles as traffic conditions warrant.

Daily, the port processes an average of 55,000 vehicles entering the U.S. on its 24 northbound traffic lanes.

The third SENTRI lane opened on June 10 to test the installation of new identification technology that was recently installed on both lanes to allow processing of vehicles both with older "transponder" technology and new proximity card equipment. The fourth SENTRI lane, which required installation of bollards and the gate to make it a convertible lane, was brought on-line today.

The trusted traveler program is a critical component of the 22-point accord between the U.S. and Mexico and the addition of the new SENTRI lanes will help meet the principal of facilitating low risk travelers.

Currently, almost 60,000 low risk cross-border travelers are registered in the SENTRI program in the San Diego-Tijuana region. A new SENTRI lane is planned for the Calexico port of entry later this year. The SENTRI program, or Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection, was implemented at the Otay Mesa port in 1995.