San Ysidro Port of Entry

The San Ysidro Port of Entry is the largest land border crossing between San Diego and Tijuana, and the busiest land border crossing in the world. It connects Mexican Federal Highway 1 with Interstate 5 on the U.S. side. The San Ysidro Port of Entry is one of three ports of entry in the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan region.HistoryThere has been a land border inspection station in the community of San Ysidro since the early 20th century. Since its beginning, cars, pedestrians and trains were inspected here. In 1933 the NRHP-listed Old Customs House was built in Mission Revival style, and still stands housing offices. Trucks also once crossed at this location, but in the 1950s, due to congestion, all truck traffic was moved a short distance west to a crossing at Virginia Avenue. Then in 1983, the Otay Mesa Port of Entry was opened and all truck traffic is now inspected there.The current San Ysidro Land Port of Entry facility was constructed in the 1970s to meet the needs of the time and the projected growth in the coming years. Nearly forty years later, this port of entry has reached its adequate operational capacity and after eight years of planning, it is ready for a major facelift. Current data ranks this port as the busiest international port of entry in the world in terms of individual crossers and vehicle movements from one country to another.