San Diego Metropolitan - The Connection

Of all vehicle crossings in 2001 along the 2,000-mile border between the United States and Mexico, about half, 44 million, navigated the Tijuana/Mesa de Otay-San Ysidro/Otay Mesa ports of entry. American motorists, defined by the Immigration and Naturalization Service as vehicles with U.S. license plates, accounted for about 15 million of them, with an average of 2.5 persons per vehicle. So it makes sense that 37.5 million passengers crossed back into San Diego in 2001.

In the early 1990s, I published a small newspaper, TransBorder News, that was distributed on the Mexican side of the border to vehicles waiting to enter San Diego at both San Ysidro and Otay Mesa. We found that Monday through Friday from 4 a.m. to 7 a.m., thousands were crossing on their way to work.

Around 7:30 a.m., a new group would arrive made up of mothers carpooling students to the various, but mostly Catholic, schools in the South County. Mixed in with this group would be executives crossing for meetings or other business. The balance of the morning was a mix of people visiting, shopping or crossing for other reasons.

In the afternoon, those returning to the United States were mostly those who had earlier entered Tijuana for visits, appointments or other business. And so it went during weekdays.

Weekends brought a different mix.

Northbound border traffic of consequence began around 7 a.m., hitting a crescendo of thousands by 10 a.m. and continuing for most of the day. These were mostly Tijuanans, but included many from Rosarito and Ensenada crossing to shop, visit friends or relatives, go to amusement parks, the Zoo, or to points further north.

Late afternoon crossings included those from San Diego who had entered Tijuana in the morning to visit doctors and dentists, or to do some grocery or other shopping. This was repeated on Sundays, with the exception that in the afternoons many crossers were returning from weekend visits to Rosarito and Ensenada.

What we learned then was that the majority of crossers could be categorized. We also noted what seemed to be a high percentage of California license plate cars driven by Hispanics as compared with non-Hispanics (in appearance) in California cars.

Armed with this information, I began to speak and write on the subject. At this time Charles Nathanson, executive director of San Diego Dialogue, was promoting the idea of a northbound commuter lane to be used by prescreened drivers for quick border crossing. We met to discuss the concept. With my studies and his tenacity, Nathanson arranged for a lunch with Bill Rick, then Dialogue’s chairman. Rick was convinced that a formal study was needed, and helped Nathanson obtain the funding.

Dialogue’s 1992-93 study revealed that Baja shoppers spend more than $2.6 billion a year in San Diego, and most are frequent crossers. The results were used to help lobby for a dedicated commuter lane for frequent crossers. Today, those of us with Sentri cards should thank Nathanson for his efforts.

Unfortunately, the study’s concentration on the number and frequency of crossers and how much they spend left some major questions unanswered. A better breakdown was needed for the types of crossers and their ethnicity.

In 2000, I became editor of HispanicVista.com, an Internet publication. One of the company’s subsidiaries is Mexico Auto Travel. That company developed software for processing insurance policy applications of Mexican insurance carriers covering American tourists. During the effort, the question of categories and ethnicity of border crossers came up again.

HVC, under the supervision of my brother, Sal Osio, conducted its own survey, albeit limited and nonscientific, at the San Diego ports of entry. The findings were that more than 80 percent of motorists with California license plates were Hispanic. HVC crews surveyed returning vehicles with American license plates over a 10-day period at various times of day including weekdays and weekends, classifying motorists as Hispanic based on pigmentation of skin, and generally accepted Hispanic profiling criteria.

Separately, a select number of Tijuana physicians and dentists were asked what percentage of their U.S. patients were of Mexican-American heritage. The response was 90 percent. Hotel owners, like Hugo Torres of the Rosarito Beach Hotel, were asked what percentage of guests were Mexican-Americans. Torres said more than half, compared with about 10 percent a decade ago. Similar answers came from other owners. And most of those staying overnight were from Southern California cities other than San Diego.

These revelations seem surprising, but on reflection make sense. A common culture and tradition bind Mexicans, whether residents or citizens of Mexico or the United States and regardless of generation, sex, age and language preference. Southern Californians of Mexican ancestry consider Baja Californians neighbors. A socioeconomic interdependence binds the two groups. To them the international border is only an inconvenience.

How truly ironic that the Pacific Coast Baja residents whose purchases in San Diego now amount to more than $3 billion a year derive many of those dollars from Southern California Mexican-Americans. How much do they spend there and on what? And exactly what group classifications do they represent? Well, that too we’re going to have to find out.

Patrick Osio Jr. can be reached through San Diego Metropolitan or by e-mail at posiojr@aol.com.