Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said on a visit with The San Diego Union-Tribune editorial board that he sees a need for a third border crossing in the San Diego region to accommodate record amounts of traffic and commerce at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa ports of entry.  Ridge said he is concerned that terrorists may try to join forces with existing drug cartels or smuggling operations to sneak into the United States from Mexico, although authorities have no specific intelligence indicating that such a connection has been attempted.  The San Ysidro and Otay Mesa ports of entry have registered record numbers of crossers.

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Central American nations are allowing free movement of people and goods between nations.  Countries that participated in talks last week on this topic were Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic.  The goal of the talks is to remove customs and other border restrictions, allowing people and goods to move quickly and easily between nations.  Guatemala and El Salvador were the first countries to implement the plan, pulling out customs and border control buildings on both sides of the border and leaving one common checkpoint that reviews the passports of those crossing.  Costa Rica, Belize and Mexico have declined to participate, in part because all three countries are already struggling with an influx of illegal Central American migrants who come to either look for work or, in the case of Mexico, pass through to the United States.