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Chronology ofSan Diego - Tijuana Border Region

1821: Mexico wins independence from Spain
1825: Old Town settled in San Diego
1826: Santiago Arguello wins land grant to Rancho Tía Juana
1833: Mission lands secularized
1834: San Diego wins pueblo or town status
1846: Mexican-American War begins
1848: Postwar Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo sets international boundary line three miles south of San Diego Bay 1850: California joins the Union

1851: Marble monument (No. 258) erected to mark U.S.-Mexico boundary (above) Story Unity, divisions mark San Diego-Tijuana border’s history
1867: Alonzo Horton begins development of new San Diego in present-day downtown
1871: First U.S. customs inspectors assigned to border
1874: Mexican customs house established in Tijuana
1884: U.S. and Mexico treaty signed to maintain boundary line
1885: Transcontinental railroad arrives in San Diego; Tijuana Hot Spa and Hotel opened by P.L. Carle in response to Southern California real estate boom
1887: Baja California peninsula divided into two Mexican federal territories
1889: Settlement founded on Rancho Tía Juana

1904: Mounted guards patrol southwest border
1909: San Ysidro founded
1910: Mexican Revolution begins; U.S. erects barbed wire cattle fence at San Ysidro; San Diego and Arizona Railway reaches Tijuana
1911: “Magonista Revolution” occupies Tijuana, threatening to bring about Baja’s annexation to the U.S.
1915-16: Start of the Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park; Tijuana Fair and horse racing track opens
1917: U.S. enters World War I
1920: Prohibition creates a boom for Tijuana
1921: Emergency Quota Act excludes Mexican workers
1924: U.S. Border Patrol established
1926: Border curfew enacted at San Ysidro, lasts until 1933
1928: Agua Caliente Resort and Casino opens; closes in 1935
1929: Tijuana officially named
1930: Great Depression triggers Mexican repatriation

1935: Start of California-Pacific International Exposition in Balboa Park
1937: Free-trade zone declared in Baja
1938: Joint International Outfall sewer pipe built
1942: Bracero Guest Worker program established, 219,000 Mexicans employed as agricultural workers through 1947
1947: Colorado River water imported to San Diego; Jai-Alai palace opened in Tijuana

1952: Baja California (North) granted Mexican statehood
1954: U.S. rounds up and deports more than one million immigrants to Mexico
1955: Chain-link fence separates San Ysidro from Tijuana
1957: San Ysidro annexed by San Diego
1964: Bracero program ends
1965: San Diego agrees to treat Tijuana sewage on emergency basis; maquiladora program initiated in Tijuana
1969: Operation Intercept mounted to deter crime and it disrupts border traffic; San Diego celebrates 200th anniversary

1972: Tijuana River channelization project begins; squatters forced to relocate
1978: “Torilla Curtain” border fence erected
1981: San Diego Trolley south line opens service from downtown San Diego to San Ysidro
1982: Mexican peso devaluation
1984: Centro Cultural opens in Tijuana
1985: Otay Mesa border crossing opens
1986: Immigration reforms grant amnesty to resident immigrants, penalties are imposed on employers of undocumented workers
1989: Tijuana celebrates 100th anniversary; “Light up the Border” citizens group protests illegal immigration
1990: U.S., California and Mexico sign agreement for construction of new Tijuana sewage treatment plant; Border Patrol erects 14-mile solid steel barrier near San Diego

1992: First InSITE binational visual art project
1993: Caltrans erects a fence on I-5 median at San Ysidro to discourage migrants from running across the freeway
1994: Presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio assassinated in Tijuana; NAFTA takes effect; Operation Gatekeeper launched
1995: SENTRI trusted-traveler verification program begins
1996: Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act authorizes construction of a 14-mile, triple-layered fence near San Diego
2006: Secure Fence Act calls for 700 miles of border fencing
2008: Anti-crime Mérida Initiative signed
2009: Work begins on San Ysidro border crossing expansion
2012: Mexico launches NEEC cargo certification; El Chaparral border crossing opens
2014: San Ysidro Port of Entry opens 25 northbound lanes and 46 inspection booths

The Los Angeles Times:Haitians, Africans, Asians

The sharp rise in non-Latin American migrants trying to cross into the U.S. from Mexico

Read the full article here

Where to go in Tijuana

Volunteer with Esperanza and visit the places we love, including other organizations doing important work throughout the city. We are proud to partner with Casa del Migrante, Padre Jaime, Missionaries of Charity, Albuergue las Memorias A.C., Casa Hogar de la Esperanza orphanage, and Centro Promocion de Salud Esperanza (Clinica Esperanza).