A CBP system failure stalled car lanes at San Ysidro on Saturday night: what to check before you cross back

Saturday was already slow at the border. At 4 p.m., Tijuana en Línea’s wait-time roundup showed up to 150 minutes in San Ysidro’s general car lanes, 120 minutes in Ready Lane and about 20 minutes in SENTRI, with Otay Mesa’s general and Ready Lane lines near 115 minutes. Pedestrians had it easier: around 30 minutes in San Ysidro’s main lanes, about 5 at PedWest and about 10 at Otay.

Then, in the evening, a failure in the processing system of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) hit both crossings, according to the Agencia Fronteriza de Noticias (AFN). Drivers told AFN they waited more than two hours without information until officers said the system had stopped. At 8:30 p.m., AFN reported, Otay was processing only a few vehicles and San Ysidro’s car lanes were still stopped. U.S. authorities had not given a cause or a time for full service to return, the agency said. Its report covered vehicle lanes and did not say whether pedestrian lanes were affected. We had not found a CBP statement as of Sunday morning.

Before you cross back

• Check CBP’s Border Wait Times right before you leave. It shows each lane type and how many lanes are open.
• If the car lines look stuck, compare the pedestrian options at San Ysidro, PedWest and Otay. On Saturday afternoon they were a fraction of the car waits.
• Rain from Rachel can slow the drive to the port too, so leave extra margin.
• Lanes, documents and timing tips are in our border crossing guide.