Mexican, U.S. Officials Discuss Possible Pilot Reopening Program On California-Baja Border

By Murphy Woodhouse
Published: Tuesday, July 13, 2021 - 5:21pm
Updated: Wednesday, July 14, 2021 - 8:00am

Mexican and U.S. officials are discussing the possibility of a partial reopening of the U.S.-Mexico border.

The so-called pilot project would be between California and the neighboring Mexican state of Baja California. Mexican officials said that a recent vaccination campaign there, fueled by a large U.S. donation of Johnson & Johnson doses, has brought the two states to similar levels of protection.

“Yes, that’s one of the options on the table,” said Roberto Velasco, head of Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Ministry’s North America Unit.

But Velasco emphasized that it will be the United States alone that makes any final decision. While the restrictions — now nearing a year-and-a-half — have been nominally binational, Mexico has not enforced comparable restrictions on nonessential travel from U.S. nationals.

Fronteras Sonora Southwest Border