The border between Mexico and the United States reopens after 20 months of closure by covid-19

(Reuters) – Dozens of border crossings between Mexico and the United States reopened for non-essential travel on Monday after a 20-month shutdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, although life has yet to return to normal along the 2,000-kilometer stretch. .

Before the reopening, hundreds of cars lined up for miles in the Mexican border city of Tijuana, while queues at pedestrian crossings grew steadily.

Still, different rules on covid-19 vaccines threaten to delay family reunions, while the prospect of some restrictions being eased has also encouraged migrants to try their luck seeking asylum in the United States, which poses a new test for the Biden administration.

María Luisa González, a California resident who visited Tijuana on Friday to take her puppy to the vet and see family members, was losing patience Sunday as she waited to drive back through San Diego at the San Diego port of entry. Ysidro.

“The operations to expedite are not working,” González said, visibly frustrated. “The road diverted me twice, the signs they put up are very confusing,” he added.

Anticipating heavy use of the roads after the reopening, Tijuana’s city council said this week that it had redirected traffic on some streets, but some residents were unclear on where to go.

Tijuana’s border with San Diego is one of the busiest in the world and thousands of people cross daily to work, study or shop.

But some vaccinated Mexicans will not be able to enter the United States immediately if they received vaccines in Mexico that have not been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO), such as China’s CanSino or Russia’s Sputnik V.

“I never imagined that because I was vaccinated with CanSino I would not be able to cross,” lamented Donato Suárez, a driver from a private university in Tijuana who was hoping to visit relatives in the United States, whom he has not seen for almost two years.

“We even had plans to do something when the border reopened,” he added, noting that around 300 people where he works are in the same situation. “We will have to wait.”