Travelers coming from Mexico may face long border crossing lines

Travelers who drive to Mexico for the Memorial Day weekend may wait in longer-than-typical lines to return home at the end of the holiday, according to Customs and Border Protection.

CBP said travelers can help the lines move smoothly by having passports, government-issued identification cards and other required border crossing documents ready to present to officers at U.S. ports of entry.

"As with most major holidays, we expect to see an increase in the amount of traffic during the weekend, which will impact the lines waiting to be screened and admitted into the United States," said Rick Gill, director of the Lukeville port of entry, in a news release. "We are asking for the traveling public to assist us by being prepared before coming to the port."

Arizonans vacationing at the Sonora beachside city of Rocky Point typically return through the Lukeville port, but long lines also form at the San Luis, Ariz., port of entry as travelers return from holiday visits to El Golfo de Santa Clara, Son., and elsewhere in Mexico.

Miguel A. Valadez, supervisory CBP officer at the San Luis port, said he expects lines there to be longest Sunday and Monday afternoons as the bulk of travelers who went south for the holiday return. Waits there could possibly be one or two hours, he said.

"We are going to expedite it as much as possible," he said.

On their return, all travelers must present either a U.S. passport or a birth certificate and a government-issued identification such as a driver's license to port of entry officers, Valadez said.

Travelers also should be ready to declare all items they are bringing with them from Mexico.

Vince Bond, spokesman for the CBP's California district, said motorists returning by way of Calexico, Calif., will have their choice of two crossings into the United States - the downtown port of entry and the east port of entry.

"If the downtown port appears to have a long wait time, by all means enter through the east port," he said.

Bond said wait times at the Andrade port of entry, across from Los Algodones, Baja Calif., are shorter in the warm months, although he could not predict how long the lines will be Sunday and Monday.

Bond suggests motorists go to the CBP's Web site, www.cbp.gov, to check wait times at any border crossing. Click on the travel link and then the wait times link.

Wait time information for California ports is also available by calling 1-760-768-2383, he said.