INTRODUCTION

In January 2023, the Pacific Council sent a group of 18 high-level delegates and staff to the San Diego-Tijuana border region for a firsthand look at the dynamics at the U.S.-Mexico border. Delegates met with border authorities from the U.S. and Mexico, toured the busiest land border crossing in the world at San Ysidro/El Chaparral, engaged with diplomats and experts on the U.S.-Mexico relationship, visited migrant shelters providing essential services in Tijuana, and explored current and future opportunities for binational economic growth and development.

The delegation spotlighted two cities seeking to grow together even as border policies continue to cleave what could be a more unified region into two distinct parts. We delved into coexisting contradictions at and on both sides of the border:  policies to facilitate the flow of goods while confining the current of people; illegal goods and substances that mostly pass through legal ports of entry, from guns gushing south to fentanyl flowing north; a high-tech North American manufacturing hub beset by inadequate infrastructure; a burgeoning population of politically and economically disempowered refugees looking northward side-by-side with firms that moved south seeking economic advantage; among many others. 

Beyond the contradictions, we also heard consensus:  specialists spoke about investment opportunities, we witnessed unprecedented cooperation to shelter and protect migrants, and experts echoed each other describing joint solutions to shared challenges. All were convinced that the most favorable future for San Diego and Tijuana, while not united, is in unison. As the ‘three amigos’ stated at the North American Leaders’ Summit (NALS) days before our delegation, “We are not just neighbors and partners. Our people share bonds of family and friendship and value – above all else – freedom, justice, human rights, equality, and democracy. This is the North American DNA.”