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Renting an Apartment in San Ysidro
What You Should Know
San Ysidro is a community within the city of San Diego, California. It was
annexed by the city of San Diego in 1957. It is located in the southernmost part
of San Diego County, California, immediately north of the international border
with Mexico.
San Ysidro is named for San Ysidro Labrador (Saint Isidore), patron saint of
farmers.
Border Crossing
San Ysidro is home to the world's busiest land border crossing, where U.S.
Interstate 5 crosses into Mexico at Tijuana. Each year over 14 million vehicles
and 40 million people enter the U.S. at the San Ysidro port of entry. The great
majority of these are workers (both of Mexican and U.S. nationality) commuting
from Tijuana to jobs in the greater San Diego area and throughout southern
California. There is also a thriving reverse traffic, both of workers traveling
to maquiladoras in Mexico and those purchasing services (vehicle repairs, hair
and beauty services, childcare, medical and dental) or seeking entertainment in
Tijuana. Crossing times are notoriously slow at San Ysidro, particularly for
those entering the U.S. in cars. For this reason many cross on foot, the line
for which is frequently much faster than the vehicle line. Some foot travelers
own a car in each country, and store them in one of the large parking lots
located near the border post, or use the respective public transportation
systems of both cities (both systems have a bus station built solely to serve
the border crossing point).
Many people frequently visit the fence that separates the beaches at the
international border (known as Playas de Tijuana in Mexico, and Border Field
State Beach in the United States). On Sundays in particular, people go to speak
to their friends and family members through the rusty fence, all under the
careful watchful eye of U.S. Border Patrol personnel which watch with binoculars
from the hillside nearby.
Crime
San Ysidro is also believed to be among the busiest sites for the importation of
illegal drugs into the U.S. Much of this is smuggled in cars or trucks, but some
is transported through one of the custom-built tunnels constructed by
narcotraffickers under the border.
Central to the Tijuana drug trade is the Tijuana Cartel, also known as the
Arellano-Felix Organization (AFO).
In 1984 a spree killing occurred at a McDonald's restaurant in the city, when
James Oliver Huberty killed 21 people before himself being shot and killed by
police officers (see McDonald's massacre).
On May 18, 2006, the border crossing was closed for nine hours after federal
authorities shot and killed the driver of a car bound for Mexico, just 50 feet
north of the Port of Entry. The vehicle was reportedly seen picking up illegal
immigrants.