Tecate Entry Expected to Expand Hours

The Tecate Port of Entry, which has been open for limited hours since the February slaying of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent in Guadalajara, Mexico, may return to a full schedule as early as next week, U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Coronado) said.

Hunter said customs officials in Washington decided Friday afternoon to allow the port to stay open 18 hours a day, from 6 a.m. to midnight. The port had been operating from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Local customs officials could not confirm the change Friday.

Hunter said he told U.S. Commissioner of Customs William Von Rabb that the United States as well as San Diego County was losing thousands of dollars in business because residents on the Mexican side of Tecate found it difficult to visit San Diego and return before 8 p.m.

President Reagan ordered port of entry hours curtailed all along the border when drug traffickers made threats against U.S. customs agents after the slaying of U.S. agent Enrique Camarena.

“I was the one (congressman) on the border who supported the President (curtailing port of entry hours) and I backed to the hilt every action that was taken,” Hunter said. “But the security considerations are no longer with us. It’s time to open up.”

Gordon Hammers, who lives in Tecate, Calif., said his friends on the Mexico side had taken extreme measures during the last few months to attend bingo games in Potrero and Padre games in San Diego.

“They (customs officials) force us to do the illegal thing, which is crawl through the fence,” he said.