CBP to Pause Northbound Traffic at Three Ports For 9/11 Observance

-Editorial 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection will briefly halt northbound traffic Friday morning at three land ports of entry to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the agency’s San Diego Field Office said.

The pause is scheduled for 5:46 a.m. at the San Ysidro, Otay Mesa and Calexico West ports of entry. CBP said officers will observe a moment of silence for those killed in the attacks and for first responders, law enforcement officers, military members and others affected.

Normal operations will resume immediately afterward, the agency said. Travelers were advised to allow for a short delay.

The annual pause comes 25 years after the attacks that prompted a lasting overhaul of U.S. border screening. Congress passed the Homeland Security Act in November 2002, and President George W. Bush signed it into law. 

The Department of Homeland Security began operating in March 2003, combining all or parts of 22 federal agencies. The goal was to improve communication among agencies that previously worked in separate departments and to strengthen homeland and border security.

Customs and immigration functions that once sat in different Cabinet departments were later organized under CBP, now part of DHS. In the years since, land ports have added layers of inspection, identity checks, and screening technology intended to process travelers while tightening security.

Those changes are visible at Calexico West. The existing pedestrian and vehicle inspection complex dates to 1974. The U.S. General Services Administration has led a multi-phase modernization since 2015, saying the old buildings could no longer handle traffic or meet CBP security standards.

Pedestrian traffic is now using a temporary processing building that CBP said opened Feb. 10, 2026, while the aging pedestrian facility is demolished.