Almost 200,000 people cross the U.S.-Mexico border into California every day, Smart Border Coalition says

SEATTLE - Each day, almost 200,000 people cross the U.S.-Mexico border through California ports of entry, that is according to data collected during the first four months of 2024 by Smart Border Coalition.

The figure includes trucks, trains, containers, buses, personal vehicles, passengers and pedestrians entering the United States through any of the designated crossing ports of entry by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The San Diego-based group, which gathers its data from the CBP, found that the San Ysidro Port of Entry was the busiest with almost eight million crossings so far this year. The entryway of Otay Mesa, in San Diego, is second on the list with 3.3 million crossings in 2024.

The United States Department of Transportation says that San Ysidro accommodated 17.4 percent of all incoming pedestrian crossings from Mexico last year, a 2.5 percent increase compared to the previous year. The place that saw the biggest increase in terms of pedestrian crossings was Brownsville. The Texan city saw an increase of 54.9 year over year.

According to Smart Border Coalition, almost 13 million people have entered the U.S. in vehicles through California ports. In 2023, 26.5 million personal vehicles entered major crossing hubs in California, with San Ysidro topping the charts once more with a total of 15,845,661 vehicles.

In terms of pedestrians, 4.6 million individuals have entered California on foot so far this year. In 2023, more than 39 million pedestrians crossed the U.S.-Mexico border, an increase of 9.8 percent compared to 2022.

Although California has the busiest port of entry, the state of Texas continues to see the biggest number of crossings. So far this year, more than 50 million people have entered the United States through Texan ports, compared to the 40.5 million that used Californian points of entry.