During the first four months of the year local ports of Entry had recorded a slight decrease in usage, an economist said.

According to data from Customs and Border Protection about 5.5 million passengers and vehicle travelers had crossed to the US through all three ports of entry in the Imperial Valley.

Economist Roberto Valero told La Voz newspaper the figure is below the 2019 statistics.

Valero, who leads the Baja California Center of Economic Studies, said the border region has not recovered from the two-year pandemic closure.

The center released the results of a study that shows that only the East Port of Entry has recorded an increase of pedestrians of 29.6 percent compared to 2019.

In the first third of the year 1.4 million vehicle passengers had crossed through the East Port of Entry — a 25.2 percent decline compared to 2019.

Pedestrian crossings declined 34.4 percent and vehicle passengers did so as well 12.4 percent through the West Port of Entry.

The Andrade Port has seen a reduction of 25 percent of pedestrian crossings while vehicle passengers observed a decline of 19.9 percent.

Valero expects border crossings to pick up once again by the end of the year if Covid remains low.

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