Walter Meza says that waiting for the authorities of Mexico and the United States to reopen the border has been a great frustration.
“They should not even say that it is ‘reopened’, because like you You can see, there are a lot of people crossing in both directions; I think it is rather that they end the farce, “the holder of a” laser visa “, which identifies him as a border resident of Mexico, told Real America News annoyed.
The visa would authorize him to cross the border and stay up to a maximum of six consecutive months in the first tens of miles north of the border, or beyond with a permit granted, if unimpeded, by Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
But since 21 March of 2020 Walter, 33 years old, has not been able to cross from Tijuana to San Diego County.
On that date, the governments of the three North American countries, including Canada, agreed to “restrict non-essential border crossings” tentatively for a month, to prevent coronavirus infections.
But since then, the measure planned to last a month, It has been renewed and has now been in force 18 months.
“Already We are going for the month 19, how much more time will they need? ” Esperanza Nieto questioned
“Long ago we achieved herd immunity in Baja California and here we are, they won’t let us cross the border,” said Nieto.
In fact, both sides of the border declared that they had reached levels of herd immunity since last June.
The 10 June San Diego County Health authorities reported that a vaccination level of 75 percent of all residents over 12 years of age; Since then, herd immunity had been exceeded.
That same week, Governor Gavin Newsom said that California had achieved the 70 percent of vaccination it requested President Joe Biden.
Less than two weeks later, the administration of President Joe Biden donated 1.3 million Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccines to Mexico. The Mexican government decided to apply them almost totally in Baja California so that both Californias equal immunity.
For the 10 of July, the Secretary of Health of Baja California, Alonso Pérez Rico, declared that his state had also achieved herd immunity, having vaccinated the 71 Percentage of the population of age to receive the immunization.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador reported that he had issued instructions for his administration to “dialogue with the government of California, to begin reopen the border. ”
The plan was that the border, completed in sections, would close non-essential crossings, and begin with California, which had already achieved the level of herd immunity in both sides.
The two countries talked about the possibility of checking at the border, together with the visa or passport, the card that confirms that the carrier has been vaccinated o.
Even after days of analysis, it was concluded that the US border authorities would accept as valid the vaccines from Russia and China that have been applied in Mexico.
“But, look, I don’t know if the Delta variant arrived, or whatever it was, they are not lacking in excuses; the fact is that the border is still closed there and they don’t have when to open it “, questioned Nieto.
He said that” what is worse, It has been a year and a half that they do not let us pass exclusively to those who have a visa. And I wonder, little by little others, those who do not have a visa, do not carry viruses or infections and only us? ”
Since the restrictions were imposed, the US border authorities They have allowed citizens and legal residents to pass through and only prevent visa holders from crossing the border, with few exceptions.
But for US visitors who cross the border to Mexico, there are no restrictions.
The executive director of the San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce, on the border, Jason Wells, said that the restrictions for more than a year and medium “they are a sign of discrimination.”
“It is discrimination because they only affect border residents and low-income residents, other visa holders can fly into the United States without restrictions,” he commented.
But he explained that the restrictions also denote “ignorance and indifference to the way of life of the borderlands”, who cross the border on a daily basis.
In San Ysidro, where more than 90 the border businesses are Mexicans who cross the border with a visa, one out of every five businesses has definitively closed, said Wells.