Every day, thousands of people drive or enter the United States from Tijuana through Otay Mesa, a port of entry that is one of the most heavily fortified and closely guarded border checkpoints in the world. And yet, one way or another, fentanyl continues to flow through.
In recent years, the crossing and another at San Ysidro a few miles west have played key roles in America's addiction crisis. Federal border authorities in San Diego seized about 11,400 pounds of illegal fentanyl last fiscal year, much of it in Otay Mesa.
Although seizures near San Diego were still declining in 2024, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection breaks regularly Vehicles drove north on the 5 Freeway carrying thousands of cartel counterfeit pills hidden in the doors and wheels or mixed with imported goods in shipping containers.
Fentanyl and the border are key issues for Gov. Gavin Newsom as he tries to manage relations with President-elect Trump, who has accused Democrats of failing to crack down on smugglers. In January, Trump will again oversee CBP and other federal agencies tasked with immigration and drug enforcement. Federal funding helps support state efforts, and local authorities often coordinate with national partners during investigations or in response to major incidents.
So far, Newsom has tried to push the issue to the forefront by touting the economic benefits of trade with Mexico through California while continuing to tout the state's efforts to crack down on the border.
On Thursday, the governor traveled to San Diego County to announce a road project that will take drivers to a long-delayed additional border crossing called Otay Mesa East, which is being built about two miles from the main port of entry.
During the visit, he also announced a California National Guard initiative that his office said would “enhance border security” by “building on the state's fight to stem the flow of fentanyl by targeting the weapons and cash that are being used.” flow south, further fueling the cartel’s profits and violence.”
Standing in front of a section of the towering, rust-colored border wall, Newsom announced plans to increase the number of California National Guard members supporting federal border enforcement efforts.
“We will step up this deployment,” Newsom said, adding that some state forces were already deployed, including a group of uniformed soldiers who stood nearby during his speech.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom greets members of the California National Guard during a news conference near the Otay Mesa port of entry on the border with Mexico on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in San Diego.
(Gregory Bull/Associated Press)
Despite Trump's rhetoric that an “immigrant invasion” is underway, the reality is that it is harder than ever to enter the country illegally.
This year, the Biden administration has all but eliminated a path to political asylum for those trying to cross the border without documentation. This led to a steep decline in border raids across the country, from a peak of 370,000 in December 2023 to 205,000 in June, according to CBP data.
Fentanyl overdoses appear to be declining, and seizures of the drug by CBP's San Diego field office fell by half to 5,700 pounds last fiscal year, according to the federal agency. Trump and his supporters have tried to link drugs to migrants, but data shows US citizens were responsible 80% of people infected with fentanyl when crossing borders at ports of entry from 2019 to 2024.
Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said busy ports of entry like Otay Mesa are major smuggling corridors because it is impossible for authorities to search every single semi-truck loaded with produce, electronics, vehicles and other goods bound for Mexico .
“There is legal trade through legal ports, and if you search every vehicle, there is no trade,” she said. “It’s a fantasy that you can do a full inspection.”
A bipartisan immigration bill passed in Congress this year at Trump's urging would have provided millions of federal dollars to significantly increase the number of vehicles crossing the border that authorities could inspect. But even that wouldn't stop cartels from flooding the U.S. with fentanyl, Felbab-Brown said. It's just too lucrative a venture.
“Prior to this law, the U.S. was able to inspect about 2% of private vehicles and 20 to 30% of semi-trucks,” she said. “If it were fully funded, they would get 70% of semi-trucks and maybe 20% of personal vehicles.”
On Thursday, Newsom announced progress on Otay Mesa East, which is expected to open in December 2027.
Newsom's office, also known as Otay II, said the new transition will have major economic benefits and has “the potential” to reduce border wait times by half.
The transition was scheduled to be ready as early as 2026, but Newsom said negotiations over its operation and the revenue it will generate through tolls were the primary cause of the significant delays.
Newsom also said in his remarks Thursday near the border wall that the state has “requested from the U.S. Department of State to formalize a National Guard partnership very similar to that in Ukraine,” with the troops supporting and training Mexican forces .
Bill Bodner, a former special agent and chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration's field division in Los Angeles, said he supports redirecting personnel and other resources from other areas of the country to the southern border, where the vast majority of fentanyl is smuggled into the United States
But the state can only do so much, Bodner said. Ultimately, it's up to federal authorities to police the border and enforce immigration laws — and billions of taxpayer dollars are already being spent on these efforts.
“I’m not a big fan of all these working groups and ad hoc task forces,” Bodner said. “The resources are already there. … It’s about letting people do their jobs.”