Border &amp; Baja California

May 30, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Sunday's unprecedented election stems from judicial reform ed by Congress last year

San Diego prosecutors unseal first ever narco-terrorism indictment against Mexican drug traffickers

May 14, 2025 at 3:08 p.m.

Charged are of the Beltrán Leyva organization, allegedly prolific fentanyl producers

Marina del Pilar Ávila, governor of Baja California, during a groudbreaking for reconstruction of the San Antonio de los Buenos Wastewater Treatment Plant on Jan. 11, 2024, in Tijuana. (Ana Ramirez / U-T file)

Baja California governor responds to revocation of U.S. visa: ‘I am calm’

May 12, 2025 at 5:49 p.m.

The couple announced the revocations on social media Saturday

Some 300 public school teachers from Mexico's National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) blocked vehicular traffic from the United States coming from San Diego to Tijuana, Mexico at the El Chaparral border crossing, as part of a protest demanding a salary increase and changes to pension calculations by the federal government, as part of a nationwide mobilization campaign by the teacher's union in the last weeks in Baja California and all over Mexico. The protest began as a march along Tijuana's Paseo del Centenario and ended with a temporary two hour blockade of the vehicle exit of the El Chaparral checkpoint on Monday, June 02, 2025. (Carlos Moreno / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)

South I-5 traffic into Mexico reopens after being blocked by Tijuana teachers

By Karen Kucher

June 2, 2025 at 6:35 p.m.

All traffic on southbound I-5 was briefly diverted off at Camino de la Plaza in...

A enger with her dog heads to the Tijuana airport while using the Cross Border Express pedestrian bridge on Friday. (Carlos Moreno / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Cross Border Xpress pledges $100 million for expansion plan to include new hotel in Otay Mesa

May 3, 2025 at 5:03 a.m.

The U.S. entrance to the Tijuana airport will also get a bigger arrivals terminal and...

A news conference is held Nov. 4, 2022, after a hearing with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights about the death of Anastasio Hernandez Rojas, who was fatally injured in an altercation with U.S. border agents in 2010. (Ana Ramirez / U-T file)

Human rights finds border agents’ actions in San Ysidro death ‘constituted acts of torture’

May 2, 2025 at 10:09 a.m.

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights finds border officers tortured Anastasio Hernández Rojas in 2010

Rodney Scott, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be chief of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, prepares to testify during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on Capitol Hill Wednesday. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images News)

Trump’s nominee for CBP commissioner faces questions about role in San Ysidro death investigation

April 30, 2025 at 6:19 p.m.

Rodney Scott testified that he did not interfere with an investigation into 2010 death of...

Matthew Taylor Coleman was captured on surveillance video in August 2021 checking into a City Express hotel in Rosarito, accompanied by his 2-year-old son, Kaleo. Authorities allege Coleman killed his son and 10-month-old daughter, shooting them with a spearfishing gun and dumping their bodies near a Rosarito highway, while paranoid by QAnon and other conspiracy theories. (Photo courtesy of Baja California Attorney General's Office)

Judge orders involuntary medication of conspiracy theorist charged with killing kids in Rosarito

April 28, 2025 at 4:48 p.m.

Matthew Coleman immediately appealed, and the order has been paused for now

South Bay businesswoman granted clemency by Trump sent to prison again for new fraud scheme

April 25, 2025 at 6:42 p.m.

Adriana Camberos was sentenced to 14 months in custody after a jury convicted her and...

Horseback riding on the beach in Rosarito, Mexico. (David Whiting / SCNG)

Mexico’s largest tourism event goes binational for the first time in San Diego

April 23, 2025 at 10:00 a.m.

San Diego's Liberty Station to host the kickoff event for the Tianguis Turístico 2025

Esperanza Gomez Escobar, owner of Novedades y Servicios, helps a customer at her money services business on April 15 in Southcrest. A judge on Tuesday granted Gomez's request to temporarily block the Treasury Department from enforcing a rule that forces money services businesses like hers and others in certain ZIP codes to report all transactions of more than $200. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

San Diego judge blocks Trump istration anti-money laundering affecting border businesses

April 22, 2025 at 5:36 p.m.

Judge found rule caused 'immediate and irreparable harm' to money services businesses in targeted ZIP...

Border Patrol agents from the San Clemente station stopped the driver of a pickup traveling north on Interstate 5 Wednesday. A canine alerted agents to 11 boxes of Mexican branded Xanax in the back seat, officials said. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

$600K worth of Mexican Xanax seized on I-5

April 18, 2025 at 6:04 p.m.

About 90,000 pills were allegedly found inside a pickup traveling on Interstate 5 Wednesday evening

Mexican officials have arrested a suspect identified as César “N” in the killing of Cmdr. Abigail Esparza Reyes, the Tijuana chief of a state police unit that searches for foreign fugitives in Mexico. (Press Office of the Attorney General of Baja California)

Escaped California inmate arrested in police commander’s killing in Tijuana

April 18, 2025 at 5:51 p.m.

César Moisés Hernández was located Thursday by Mexican law enforcement in eastern Tijuana

Lance l. Marcelino M. Gamino, 28, of Fresno, and Lance l. Albert A. Aguilera, 22, of Riverside, California, were a combat engineers with 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division. They died on April 15 when when their vehicle rolled over while on deployment to the southern border. (Photo courtesy of USMC)

Camp Pendleton identifies Marines who died in New Mexico rollover crash

April 18, 2025 at 9:05 a.m.

Lance l. Albert Aguilera, 22, of Riverside, and Lance l. Marcelino Gamino, 28, of Fresno,...

The sign at the entrance at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton on Monday, March 10, 2025. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

2 Camp Pendleton Marines killed in vehicle accident while deployed to U.S.-Mexico border

By Gary Robbins

April 16, 2025 at 3:58 p.m.

A third service member also was badly injured in the crash in New Mexico

The Otay Mesa East border crossing, also known as Otay II, will be used for both vehicle and commercial crossings between the U.S. and Mexico. Construction of several bridges along the highway for the Otay II project in Tijuana on July 3, 2024. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Future Otay Mesa border crossing secures $150 million federal grant

April 16, 2025 at 5:03 a.m.

The money comes with a new agreement that does away with environmental requirements set by...

Esperanza Gomez Escobar, owner of Novedades y Servicios in Southcrest, stands outside her business Tuesday. Gomez has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a Treasury Department rule that forces money services businesses like hers and others in certain ZIP codes to report all transactions of $200 or more. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

A new rule aims to combat money laundering. A San Diego woman says it will put her out of business.

April 15, 2025 at 8:42 p.m.

Money services business in certain ZIP codes are now required to report transactions $200 and...

Colleagues, friends and family say goodbye to Baja California police Cmdr. Abigail Esparza Reyes, pictured at right, on Friday at the Tijuana Control and Command Center, known as C5. (Baja California Government Press Office)

U.S. offers reward for fugitive accused of killing police commander in Tijuana

April 11, 2025 at 7:54 p.m.

Escaped prisoner wanted on both sides of the border for the killing of Abigail Esparza...

The Tijuana home where Baja California police Cmdr. Abigail Esparza Reyes was shot while serving an arrest warrant for a U.S. fugitive on April 9. (Alexandra Mendoza / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Chief of elite police unit killed in hunt for California fugitive in Tijuana

April 10, 2025 at 5:33 p.m.

Abigail Esparza Reyes led the state police unit known as the "Gringo Hunters" in Tijuana

Police and sheriff’s investigators over look a crime scene where a man was shot by police on Friday in the Stockton area of southeastern San Diego on K street between 31st and 32nd street. (Sandy Huffaker / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Mexico demands thorough investigation into San Diego police shooting of teen

April 9, 2025 at 5:46 p.m.

Kevin García, 19, was shot by police after a 40-minute standoff in the Stockton neighborhood...

Nicolas Phillips, a petty officer third class, looks off at the Coronado Bridge before the Coast Guard demonstrates tactical pursuit training in San Diego. (Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

As the U.S.-Mexico land border tightens, focus turns to dangerous sea crossings

April 6, 2025 at 6:03 a.m.

Three recent interceptions near San Diego reveal the stakes for migrants, who paid smugglers up...

U.S. Marine Corps Task Force Sapper adds concertina wire to the U.S.-Mexico border walls on Wednesday, March 12, 2025 in Otay Mesa, California. The wire is meant to deter people from crossing the border walls and to give border patrol agents more time to respond when they aren’t discouraged. (Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

1 dead, another injured after fall from border wall

April 1, 2025 at 1:08 p.m.

The Vietnamese nationals were found near Clearwater Way and Dairy Mart Road, west of the...

Myrna Camarena said her brother, DEA Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, right, was the “life of the party.” Camarena, seen here in an undated photo with his brother Ernesto, was tortured and killed in 1985 in Guadalajara, Mexico. (Courtesy family photo via Motley Rice law firm)

Family’s anti-terrorism suit trods new ground in targeting Sinaloa cartel for DEA agent’s killing

March 30, 2025 at 5:03 a.m.

Lawsuit under Anti-Terrorism Act thought to be first ever against the Mexican cartel newly designated...

An undated photo of DEA Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, right. (Sun Sentinel)

Family of DEA agent ‘Kiki’ Camarena sues cartel under new terrorist designation in San Diego

March 20, 2025 at 7:51 p.m.

Camarena's family's attorneys said Trump's designation of Sinaloa cartel as foreign terrorist organization allowed for...

Mexican National Guard troops at a camp next the U.S.-Mexico border fence along the Otay Mountain Wilderness Area. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Three migrants die while crossing U.S.-Mexico border during recent storm

March 20, 2025 at 4:20 p.m.

The woman and two men died during separate incidents in the Otay Mountain Wilderness Area...

Mexican National Guard troops patrol the U.S.-Mexico border in Tijuana's Colonia Nido de las Aguilas in an area where there is a gap in the wall, on March 5. The Trump istration is working to close gaps in spots along the San Diego-Tijuana border. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Trump moves to close gaps in San Diego border fence, but environmental concerns linger

March 20, 2025 at 5:03 a.m.

Four spots in challenging terrain along the San Diego-Tijuana border are slated for new fence

Jury convicts Tijuana man in hostage-taking killing of San Diego teen who stole drugs

March 19, 2025 at 7:50 p.m.

Brian Alexis Patron Lopez was found guilty of killing Miguel Anthony Rendon while engaged in...

San Diego is home to one of the largest Coast Guard stations on the West Coast. (Gary Robbins/San Diego Union-Tribune)

Coast Guard rescues migrants from drifting vessel 60 miles off San Diego coast

March 12, 2025 at 4:45 p.m.

The boat was found Tuesday morning, and migrants were hoisted aboard a Coast Guard helicopter...

San Diego’s self-described ‘king of coke’ sentenced for trafficking drugs, recruiting cartel hitmen

March 3, 2025 at 5:01 p.m.

Prosecutors said Rudy Silva was a prolific drug trafficker who ordered a cartel 'sicario' to...

Yolanda Marodi, also known as Yolanda Olejniczak, who is suspected in the death of her wife, Rebecca Marodi, on Feb. 17. (Courtesy San Diego County Sheriff’s Office)

‘I don’t want to die’: Cal Fire captain’s killing was captured on doorbell camera, according to arrest warrant

February 28, 2025 at 3:25 p.m.

The arrest warrant for Yolanda Marodi reveals the suspect may have fled into Mexico

Thousands of U.S. and Mexican troops are at the border. Here’s where they are and what they’re doing.

February 15, 2025 at 5:01 a.m.

The Mexican National Guard has set up checkpoints to search vehicles while U.S. troops assist...

Trump’s pause on Mexican tariffs hinges on slowing fentanyl. Can Mexico’s National Guard succeed?

February 7, 2025 at 3:03 p.m.

Mexico sent more than 3,000 National Guard troops to Baja California this week as part...

A Brinks armored truck sits in front of a Silicon Valley Bank March 10, 2023, in Santa Clara. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Major armored car company forfeits $50M to avoid criminal prosecution

By City News Service

February 6, 2025 at 3:59 p.m.

The non-prosecution agreement includes issions that Brink's violated the Bank Secrecy Act

Construction crews work Friday to replace a section of the old U.S.-Mexico border barrier east of Friendship Park with a 30-foot fence. (Alexandra Mendoza/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Construction resumes on U.S.-Mexico border wall in San Diego

February 1, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Crews were closing off the remaining 100-foot gap of the border wall replacement project near...

La Jolla Shores. (Ashley Mackin-Solomon)

Coast Guard intercepts panga off Point Loma, detains 14 people

January 29, 2025 at 5:48 p.m.

A video shows of the Coast Guard boarding a vessel during the night and...

Keith “Taliban” Rodriguez Padilla, center in top photo, procured roughly 20,000 rounds of .50-caliber ammunition that was headed to a cartel faction in Mexico when authorities seized it in November 2020. (Courtesy of U.S. Attorney’s Office via U.S. District Court filing)

Man who procured guns, ammo for Sinaloa Cartel sentenced to nearly 20 years

January 14, 2025 at 4:59 p.m.

Prosecutors said Keith Rodriguez Padilla obtained powerful guns and ammunition for the Valenzuela trafficking organization

A CBP helicopter crashed in a field in the East County community of Portero on Dec. 16. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Preliminary report released on border agent’s fatal helicopter crash in Potrero

January 14, 2025 at 5:12 p.m.

The Dec. 16 crash killed Air and Marine Operations Agent Jeffrey Kanas, a 16-year Customs...

Families at Juventud 2000 on Thursday in Tijuana. (Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Tijuana declares emergency ahead of possible mass deportations

January 13, 2025 at 9:01 p.m.

Unanimous City Council vote lays ground to prepare for potential influx of arrivals following Trump...

The Otay Mesa East border crossing, also known as Otay II, will be used for both vehicle and commercial crossings between the U.S. and Mexico. Crews work on the Mexican portion on July 3 in Tijuana. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Delayed Otay Mesa East border project poised to begin construction with key agreements reached

January 10, 2025 at 5:44 p.m.

SANDAG on Friday approved the for an agreement with the federal government on the...

Telma Gutierrez, a local fan of the Mexican sweet breads sold at the family owned La Moreliana Bakery in Chula Vista, decided to try out a rosca for the first time for the celebration of Three Kings Day on Monday. (Carlos Moreno / for The San Diego Union-Tribune)

It’s Three Kings Day — for many it’s time to pick up the Rosca de Reyes, a traditional Mexican bakery treat

January 7, 2025 at 7:27 a.m.

Chula Vista bakery among many in both San Diego County and Tijuana that prepare treats...

Officials showed off a newly constructed trash boom that stretches across a galvanized steel cable with 150 rigging attachments to catch floating debris in the Tijuana River Valley before it reaches the thick vegetation and the ocean. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

New trash boom sweeps up tires, plastics and debris flowing into Tijuana River Valley

December 18, 2024 at 7:53 a.m.

The trash boom is the third, and largest, in the Tijuana River area at 450...

The Rev. Maria Santa Cruz leads a group in various songs at the U.S.-Mexico border fence in San Diego on Saturday. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

First border construction, now Trump. Uncertainty swirls around the future of Friendship Park.

December 16, 2024 at 1:58 p.m.

The Biden istration has pledged to reopen access to the U.S. side, but uncertainty grows...

San Diego County Supervisor Nora Vargas listens to people speak during a Dec. 10 board meeting in San Diego. (Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Supervisors OK $2M to help migrants traveling through San Diego County amid busy holiday season

By Emily Alvarenga

December 12, 2024 at 9:04 a.m.

'Usually, as it gets closer to Christmas, that's when the backlog starts happening — because...

Volaris Airlines of Mexico. (Courtesy of Volaris Airlines)

enger who tried to force Mexican plane to fly to US said he was under threat by criminals

By Associated Press

December 9, 2024 at 7:18 p.m.

Volaris airline flight was flying from the central city of Leon, in Guanajuato state, to...

Eddy Carrillo speaks to the media in Tijuana Tuesday about locating his son’s remains. (Carlos Moreno / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Father finds son’s remains in Tijuana after more than five-year search

December 7, 2024 at 5:01 a.m.

The father founded a collective to search for his missing son, as have hundreds of...

A U.S. Border Patrol vehicle drives along the border road in the Tijuana River Valley on July 15 in San Diego. (Alejandro Tamayo / U-T file)

Video of Border Patrol SUV striking man near fence prompts investigation

December 6, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

The Nov. 27 incident in San Ysidro, captured on cellphone footage from the Tijuana side...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom holds a press conference along the U.S.-Mexico border at Otay Mesa on Thursday. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Newsom announces new plans for National Guard at border during San Diego visit

December 6, 2024 at 11:10 a.m.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a visit to Otay Mesa that CalGuard will work to...

An undated photo of Gustavo Rivera. (U.S. Drug Enforcement istration)

Long-jailed former cartel lieutenant pleads guilty in San Diego and is released from custody

December 5, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

Gustavo Rivera, who grew up in Chula Vista, was a high-ranking member of the Arellano...

Tijuana police and the Mexican National Guard wait at a checkpoint in front of CBP’s inspection points at the San Ysidro Port of Entry on Dec. 2. (Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Tijuana once again sets up additional checkpoint at border crossing

December 2, 2024 at 7:01 p.m.

The checkpoint is an effort to back up CBP so U.S. officers can open additional...

Dozens of migrants are dropped off at the Iris Avenue Transit Center by U.S. Border Patrol agents on June 10 in San Diego. (Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Efforts to open a new migrant aid center in San Diego County stall once more

By Emily Alvarenga

December 1, 2024 at 5:02 a.m.

San Diego County has once again rescinded a contract with a potential operator to establish...

President Donald Trump visits the U.S.-Mexico border, east of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in San Diego on Sept. 18, 2019. (John Gibbins / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

San Diego federal court was ground zero for hashing out Trump’s border policies. A repeat is likely.

November 30, 2024 at 5:01 a.m.

Border wall construction projects, family separations, asylum limitations and hardline enforcement priorities all landed in...

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar held a press conference at the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce to talk about binational business matters Tuesday. Salazar speaking at the podium with Jessica Anderson, Chamber executive vice president and chief operations officer. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

U.S. ambassador to Mexico visits San Diego and Tijuana: ‘Solutions are found when you work together’

November 19, 2024 at 6:55 p.m.

Ken Salazar said cooperation between the two countries is crucial to “keep this momentum going...

The U.S.-Mexico border wall near the future Otay Mesa East border crossing. (Alejandro Tamayo / U-T file)

Migrant who died from border fence fall was Colombian national

November 15, 2024 at 4:12 p.m.

Colombian national who died after falling from the border fence in Otay Mesa was identified...

Former San Diego Border Patrol agent charged with on-duty sex crimes

November 14, 2024 at 5:50 p.m.

Juan Prishker, who has resigned from CBP, allegedly touched one victim while she was restrained...

A man es by a sign Thursday advertising El Buen Fin, which begins Friday in Tijuana (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Tijuana to offer ‘fast lane’ border es to U.S. shoppers during its version of Black Friday

November 15, 2024 at 10:36 a.m.

El Buen Fin, or The Good Weekend, runs Friday through Monday in Mexico, and U.S....

Professor Frank Paiano with Genevieve Villarreal, 27, at the CETYS University campus on Oct. 30 in Tijuana. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Southwestern College students in Tijuana don’t have to worry about crossing the border for this class

November 8, 2024 at 5:42 p.m.

A Southwestern College business class taught at CETYS Tijuana marks a first step in a...

New nonstop Tijuana to Las Vegas route takes off, with three flights a week

October 31, 2024 at 5:01 a.m.

Mexican airline Volaris launched nonstop flights between Tijuana and Las Vegas on Tuesday

A fraudster from the South Bay got clemency from Trump. She was just convicted of fraud again.

October 29, 2024 at 11:23 a.m.

Adriana Camberos, known as Adriana Shayota when former President Donald Trump commuted her prison sentence,...

Campaign rhetoric around U.S.-Mexico border is extreme. Living there is a lot more nuanced.

November 23, 2024 at 5:28 a.m.

The Union-Tribune spoke with more than two dozen San Diego County residents who live closest...

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks during a rally at the Baja California Center in Rosarito, Mexico on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (Sandy Huffaker / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Mexico’s new president tours sewage treatment project in first Tijuana visit

October 28, 2024 at 8:20 a.m.

Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s first woman president, toured the project to overhaul the San Antonio de...

A 2003 cold case was recently solved, identifying the victim, Laurie Diane Potter, and resulting in the arrest of her husband, Jack Dennis Potter, for murder. (San Diego Sheriff’s Deparment)

Former San Diego CBP officer sentenced to 23 years in prison for accepting bribes

October 25, 2024 at 4:50 p.m.

Leonard Darnell George accepted bribes to allow undocumented migrants and illegal drugs to cross the...

Packages of methamphetamine are nestled alongside celery in a shipment that tried to cross at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry on Aug. 9, 2024. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

Majority of border methamphetamine seizures occur in California, while fentanyl moves east

By Kristina Davis

October 25, 2024 at 11:16 a.m.

More than 101,000 pounds of meth were seized along California-Mexico border in fiscal 2024, while...

California Highway Patrol vehicle. (Sentinel file)

2 die, 1 injured in crash after Border Patrol pursuit on SR-905 in Otay Mesa

By Karen Kucher

October 23, 2024 at 3:56 p.m.

The crash occurred on the westbound side of the freeway at Britannia Boulevard shortly before...

Three individuals have been arrested on charges of operating a “high-end brothel network” in Massachusetts and Virginia, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.

U.S. brothers sentenced for ‘massacre’ of sister, her young family in Tijuana

October 22, 2024 at 6:42 p.m.

Christopher Baltezar Hernandez and Victor Armondo Aguilar itted to murder conspiracy for killing sister's family...

An undocumented migrant was killed on Christmas Day 2021 when this car he was riding in crashed during a Border Patrol pursuit in Jamul. The incident was linked to a smuggling organization led by Felipe de Jesus Rosales-Herrera. (Courtesy of U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California)

Leader of smuggling ring involved in fatal pursuit sentenced to maximum. ‘You don’t have remorse.’

October 11, 2024 at 3:15 p.m.

Prosecutors said Felipe De Jesus Rosales-Herrera was the "ringleader of a long-running and extensive" migrant...

Fraud trial begins for South Bay businesswoman who got clemency from Trump

October 9, 2024 at 3:46 p.m.

Prosecutors say siblings Adriana and Andy Camberos enriched themselves by selling deeply discounted products intended...

People coming and going at the San Diego Superior Court’s Central Courthouse in downtown San Diego. (Alejandro Tamayo / U-T file)

Chula Vista man accused in wife’s slaying extradited from Mexico

By City News Service

October 2, 2024 at 4:10 p.m.

Francisco Uriarte, 41, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to the March 29, 2020, killing of his...

Tijuana Mayor Ismael Burgueño is inaugurated Monday. (Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

New Tijuana mayor takes helm. ‘We are going to have a safe Tijuana.’

October 2, 2024 at 1:45 p.m.

Ismael Burgueño, a former elementary school teacher and state leader of the ruling Morena party,...

Pedestrian traffic at the San Ysidro Port of Entry on June 20 in Tijuana. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Prices for border-crossing programs SENTRI, Global Entry to change this week

October 1, 2024 at 7:13 a.m.

Starting Tuesday, the cost to enroll in expedited border-crossing programs in the U.S. will be...

San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliot and Mexican Consul General in San Diego Alicia Kerber sign a new memorandum of understanding to help victims of domestic violence in the border region on Wednesday at Your Safe Place in downtown San Diego. (Alexandra Mendoza / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Mexico, San Diego renew cross-border agreement to help domestic violence victims

September 27, 2024 at 8:38 a.m.

The five-year cooperation agreement was first signed in 2019 and was extended Wednesday at Your...

Vehicles drive around vendors at the San Ysidro Port of Entry on June 20 in Tijuana. (Alejandro Tamayo / U-T file)

San Diego man pleads guilty in first ever prosecution for smuggling greenhouse gases

September 27, 2024 at 8:44 a.m.

Michael Hart itted illegally importing hydrofluorocarbons, used for cooling and refrigeration, from Mexico to be...

One person was injured in a use-of-force incident at the Otay Mesa commercial trucking border crossing on Sept. 18. (Alejandro Tamayo / U-T file)

Man allegedly armed with screwdriver shot by CBP officer at Otay Mesa port charged with assault

September 24, 2024 at 1:45 p.m.

A CBP officer shot Ramiro Montalvo Jr., a U.S. citizen allegedly armed with a screwdriver,...

More than a dozen migrants are moved by U.S. Border Patrol agents after they waited between the border walls that separate Tijuana from San Diego on the day before Title 42 is set to end on Thursday, May 11, 2023. For months, Border Patrol has used the area to hold migrants for several days until agents take them to stations for processing. (Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

San Diego County selects Virginia-based company to run new migrant aid center

By Emily Alvarenga

September 23, 2024 at 8:14 a.m.

Some local migrant services groups have already voiced concerns about the choice of a non-local...

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer at the Commercial Inspection Facility on Wednesday. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Federal officer wounds man with screwdriver at Otay Mesa Port of Entry

By Karen Kucher

September 19, 2024 at 2:20 p.m.

No commercial trucks were allowed to cross at the port for a few hours during...

Vehicles in line at the San Ysidro Port of Entry on Thursday, June 20 in Tijuana. (Alejandro Tamayo / U-T file)

California-Mexico ports of entry to pause for 9/11 moment of silence

September 9, 2024 at 10:10 a.m.

The remembrance is slated for 5:46 a.m. Wednesday at the San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, Tecate,...

Witnesses are sworn in during the House Judiciary Committee hearing to discuss the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday in Santee, California. (Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Republicans focus on U.S.-Mexico border during congressional hearing and Vance San Diego visit

September 6, 2024 at 8:15 p.m.

The House Judiciary Committee held a field hearing Friday to get local perspectives on the...

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer looks over vehicles. (Alejandro Tamayo / U-T file)

2 San Diego CBP officers accused of working with cartel, allowing drugs through inspection lanes

September 6, 2024 at 3:12 p.m.

Jesse Clark Garcia and Diego Bonillo were arrested in May and remain in custody on...

In the living room of San Marcos apartment, Maribel Solache comforts her daughter, Valentina Castillo Solache, before leaving for Mexico City as a congress member. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

She lived undocumented in San Marcos. She returns to Mexico 20 years later as a federal legislator.

September 4, 2024 at 9:47 a.m.

Maribel Solache was sworn in as one of Mexico’s 500 federal deputies in Congress, but...

From left, Mike Coleman, CEO of Timing HG, Valeria Rivera, Binational Race co-founder and Joel Espinoza, CEO of Altec Sports, discuss the Binantional Race at a press conference Thursday at Las Americas Outlets (Alexandra Mendoza / The San Diego Union-Tribune).

A unique half marathon that takes runners from San Diego to Tijuana: ‘It’s a one-of-a-kind race’

September 1, 2024 at 2:21 p.m.

On Sept. 15, runners will compete in the Binational Race, from Las Americas Outlets...

‘Nowhere is safe’: Imperial Beach rallies to demand quicker fix to sewage crisis

By Tammy Murga

August 31, 2024 at 8:45 p.m.

Organizers encouraged hundreds of residents to log complaints and urge government agencies to resolve cross...

Sewage water filled with trash flow down the Tijuana River on Tuesday, April 9, 2024 in Imperial Beach, California. (Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Federal agency says sewage odors aren’t its fault. Local air pollution officers disagree.

By Tammy Murga

August 30, 2024 at 4:09 p.m.

The San Diego Air Pollution Control District said it could seek an order of abatement...

More than 5,000 pounds of meth found among produce at Otay Mesa border

August 20, 2024 at 4:49 p.m.

The drugs were found hidden inside separate shipments of celery and watermelon aboard trucks at...

Following a series of violent incidents in Tijuana, business owners and community hold a vigil to demand safety. Candles are placed around the Cuauhtémoc statue in Zona Rio on July 17 in Tijuana. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Tijuana’s citizens are fed up with the violence. Can the incoming mayor help turn the tide?

August 11, 2024 at 5:01 a.m.

Ismael Burgueño will take over as Tijuana’s new mayor on Oct. 1, and addressing the...

Volunteers with Dog Rescue Without Borders provide microchip service to dogs in Tijuana amid new border regulations. Pepper, an 8-year-old mix Chihuahua, is about to receive a microchip to be able to cross the U.S.-Mexico Border as she sits with her owner Ana Laura Galicia on July 22, 2024. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Crossing the border with your dog? The U.S. just changed the rules.

August 8, 2024 at 9:09 a.m.

For instance, dogs must be at least 6 months old, have a microchip that can...

Police tape on March 27, 2024, blocks the scene of a shooting on Santa Carolina Road in the Otay Ranch section of Chula Vista. (Phillip Molnar / U-T file)

Teens expected to face federal charges in ‘violent, premeditated’ Chula Vista shootings

July 30, 2024 at 8:05 a.m.

The shootings killed one and wounded two, including a man who Mexican authorities say is...

A greyhound is assessed at a Tijuana vet’s office after being brought from Canódromo Caliente, a greyhound racetrack, on July 24. MEDIVET, the clinic of Dr. Fernando Sánchez Fernández, has helped more than 200 greyhounds. (Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Greyhounds up for adoption in San Diego after sudden closure of historic Tijuana racetrack

July 28, 2024 at 5:02 a.m.

The Caliente greyhound racetrack, whose history dates back to 1927, recently and unexpectedly announced that...

House Speaker Mike Johnson, left, and Congressman Darrell Issa hold a press conference to speak about immigration and security at the border on Thursday, July 25, 2024 in San Ysidro, California. (Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

House Speaker Johnson, Rep. Issa tour U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego

July 26, 2024 at 5:55 p.m.

The U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego is a backdrop for election-season debates over immigration policy

‘El Mayo’ Zambada, historic leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, and son of ‘El Chapo’ arrested in US

By Associated Press

July 26, 2024 at 7:47 a.m.

A leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel for decades alongside Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, Zambada...

A U.S. Border Patrol vehicle drives along the U.S.-Mexico border road in the Tijuana River Valley on Monday, July 15, 2024 in San Diego, California. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

San Diego-area Border Patrol agent claims immunity from prosecution in fatal crash

July 22, 2024 at 3:48 p.m.

Border Patrol Agent Dustin Sato-Smith has successfully moved his case from state court to federal...

A widespread Microsoft outage disrupted flights at the San Diego International Airport on Friday, July 19, 2024 in San Diego, California. Some canceled flights in red on the screen as engers wait in line. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Flight delays, border gridlock and more as Microsoft outage hits San Diego County

By Teri Figueroa

July 19, 2024 at 5:43 p.m.

Airport, courts, hospitals and law enforcement agencies in San Diego experienced effects of outage, and...

Delays continue to plague completion of Otay Mesa East border crossing

July 17, 2024 at 10:08 a.m.

San Diego County officials now predict the Otay II crossing won't be open to traffic...

A Hainan Airlines flight from Beijing, China, arrives at Tijuana International Airport Friday night marking the restart of the nonstop route. (Tijuana International Airport)

Tijuana now has the San Diego border region’s only nonstop flight to this major Asian capital

July 13, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

Hainan Airlines on Friday resumed its Beijing-Tijuana-Mexico City route after a four-year hiatus due to...

The photos of the foreign surfers who disappeared are placed on the beach in Ensenada, Mexico, Sunday, May 5, 2024. Mexican authorities said Friday that three bodies were recovered in an area of Baja California near where two Australians and an American went missing last weekend during an apparent camping and surfing trip. (AP Photo/Karen Castaneda)

Fourth arrest made in connection with Baja California surfer killings

July 10, 2024 at 3:31 p.m.

Two Australian surfers and their American friend were found dead in a remote area south...

Children are seen from behind walking down a school hallway.

Are bilingual and binational students getting the schooling they need? There’s ‘a lot of work we need to do,’ educators say

By Kristen Taketa

July 5, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

More than a million California public school students are English learners. Meanwhile, 45,000 students cross...

Former Baja California prosecutor’s office employee sentenced for cocaine load

By City News Service

July 3, 2024 at 3:11 p.m.

Ana Sofia Lopez Osuna, 33, was arrested last year for driving a car loaded with...

Memorial service for former Tijuana Mayor Luis Arturo González Cruz at Palacio Municipal. Officers stand next to the coffin of the former mayor in Zona Río on Thursday, June 27, 2024 in Tijuana, Baja California. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Tijuana federal legislator and former Mayor González Cruz dies

July 3, 2024 at 1:41 p.m.

Arturo González Cruz, 69, the first Tijuana mayor from Mexico's current ruling party, Morena, suffered...

A view of San Diego’s neighboring federal courthouses downtown in 2021.

Mexican drug broker with disputed cartel ties sentenced in San Diego

July 1, 2024 at 5:55 p.m.

Rubén Velázquez Aceves, known as "El Ingeniero," or The Engineer, had been accused of being...

The 100th anniversary of the Caesar salad will be on July 4. Salad master, Efraín Montoya Gaxiola adding Parmesan cheese to the Caesar salad at Caesar’s Restaurant in Downtown on Monday, June 24, 2024 in Tijuana, Baja California. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The iconic Caesar salad turns 100. Do you know its local origin story?

July 1, 2024 at 2:10 p.m.

Tijuana is hosting a four-day centennial bash for the dish said to be created there,...

SENTRI vehicle lane will stay open an extra two hours in Otay Mesa

June 28, 2024 at 3:15 p.m.

Beginning Friday, border crossers will have an additional two hours to use the trusted traveler...

Trucks line up to get onto Route 905 after crossing into the United States at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry along the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego on Wednesday, July, 25, 2001. The U.S. Senate rejected an initial Republican effort Wednesday to weaken proposed safety standards for Mexican trucks driven in the United States. The White House, which wants to let Mexican vehicles travel throughout the United States beginning Jan. 1, has threatened to veto the proposed safety requirements and prefers more lenient restrictions on the trucks. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

3 companies along San Diego-Mexico border ordered to pay $840K in back wages and penalties