Photo by Fernando A. Martinez / Staff
A pedestrian in Tijuana shows documentation to U.S. Border Patrol officers before crossing through the San Ysidro Port of Entry. In an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus, the governments of the United States and Mexico agreed to ban non-essential border crossings on March 20.
By Fernando A. Martinez
TIJUANA—They no longer wake up at 3 a.m. to get to school.
At least for now.
“Coronavirus commuting” through technology has extended into Baja California where thousands of Southwestern College students and employees live.
Grueling three-hour border-transiting commutes from Tijuana to SWC were eliminated by the novel coronavirus pandemic, but most of the travelers are not happy about it. Enriching face-to-face learning as well as collaborations with colleagues and classmates were abruptly terminated when college officials pushed the entire campus to “remote instruction” in mid-March. Spring semester is wrapping up online. Summer classes and the entire fall semester will also be conducted remotely.
On March 20, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security website announced an agreement made between the United States and Mexico governments to close their international border to all but essential crossings for 30 days. On April 20, travel restrictions were extended until May 21. Only U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents and those with working visas are allowed to cross what was once the planet’s busiest border.
Southwestern College does not keep records of students and employees who live in Mexico, but estimates range from 5,000 to 8,000. Today students and staff cross la frontera through cyberspace instead of on foot and in idling cars.
Business administration major Andres Ruvalcaba, 22, said shelter-in-place orders in both nations deprived him of his face-to-face educational experience and his job at a clothing store at Las Americas Premium Outlets just over the U.S. border. He was furloughed when the store temporarily closed on March 20. Las Americas businesses have not announced a reopening date.
“(The pandemic) affected me because I lost my income,” he said, noting that he is having trouble paying bills.
Mexico does not have many of the safety net provisions that have supported millions of Americans who have lost income. There is no fullscale unemployment insurance and the government has not issued checks to low-income citizens as the U.S. government did.
Ruvalcaba is one of the lucky ones. He said his company paid his salary for three weeks after the store closed, which allowed him to pay his March auto insurance bill.
He is scraping by on his savings, he said, and occasional help from his parents.
“They understand that my income is (gone), so they are more flexible,” he said. “Fortunately, my mom still has her job, as it is an essential job, so we still have income in our home.”
Graphic design major Yaritza Cuevas, 26, used to live in San Ysidro and visited her family in Tijuana several times a week, but moved to be with her family once the shelter-in-place order began. Making cookies has helped alleviate some of the stress and tedium of home confinement, she said.
“It has been a very creative time for me, even though I am in isolation,” she said. “I am baking a lot again, which is something I love to do. I usually have no time to bake because of school and crossing.”
Cuevas said she is a member of a high-risk population, but has remained calm.
“I have a compromised immune system and problems with my breathing and allergies, but for some reason I’m not really worried about it,” she said.
Cuevas said she is careful with her diet to support her immune system. She is also taking precautionary measures if she needs to leave the house.
“We have a room next to the garage where we wash our hands, and change our clothes and shoes before we go into the house,” she said. “We spray our stuff from the outside with disinfectant and we have wipes and antibacterials around different areas of the house in case we pet the dogs or anything.”
Both Ruvalcaba and Cuevas said they miss their friends and know they may not see them for a while.
Baja California Health Secretary Alonso Pérez Rico predicted the next three weeks would be “really hard” for the state during a Facebook Live stream on April 24. He said that thirty percent of the medical staff had to leave their jobs.
“Why? Because they were older than 60 (or had) high blood pressure,” he said. “What we need right now is for our citizens to help us by staying in their homes,” Pérez Rico said.
Besides high-risk medical staff leaving hospitals, many Mexican doctors and nurses are getting infected with coronavirus. At the beginning of April, Baja California Governor Jaime Bonilla said doctors from the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) hospitals in Tijuana were “dropping like flies” because they were not given the proper personal protective equipment (PPE). He added that doctors from other public and private hospitals also work at these institutions, and that PPE they were given at other hospitals is meaningless if they did not also receive it at IMSS.
As of May 4, Baja California state officials reported 977 confirmed cases in Tijuana and 185 deaths. Tijuana has the most novel coronavirus cases of any city in Baja California. Federal officials reported 1,660 confirmed cases in BC, third highest of Mexico’s 32 states.
Mexico’s social distancing order, Sana Distancia, is scheduled to end May 30.
Southwestern’s distance learning will remain in place until at least January 2021, and college administrators have indicated the entire 2020-21 academic year may be conducted online. SWC Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Minou Spradley told faculty that the college likely will not reopen until there is an effective coronavirus vaccine.
Ruvalcaba, like most SWC students, said he is not a fan of online instruction.
“I don’t learn as well as when I’m in class,” he said. “I’m used to face-to-face classes.”
Even so, he said, he plans to take summer classes online to keep his education on track.
“I don’t like the idea of online classes, but I want to be done with college,” he said.
Ruvalcaba said he plans to apply for transfer to a four-year university this fall.
Students living in Mexico said that, for the most part, professors seem aware of what students are going through and are supportive. Araceli Moreno, 51, an English as a Second Language instructor, lives in Tijuana and is working from home. She said she has been flexible with her students and has extended deadlines because she knows they are facing multiple challenges.
Proper support, Moreno said, helps students to press on with their studies.
“If I saw that they were gone from classes for like one week, I reach out to them,” she said. “Students are trying hard and they came back.”
Moreno said she is relaying information to students that may help them navigate the pandemic, such as food distributions.
“It is important that they feel they are not alone and that there is help, that someone cares,” she said.
Moreno follows health safety measures, she said, because family members she lives with are part of the high-risk population.
“I cook for them so they don’t eat anything (from) outside,” she noted. “(I am) disinfecting everything that I buy, everything that comes into my house.”
She even has plans in case she contracts the virus. Moreno said she would self-quarantine at her home and her sister will take care of her family.
Economic and health anxiety is causing many SWC students and employees living in Mexico to plan for the worst. Ruvalcaba said he would look for help across the border in the United States, if it came down to it.
“(I will) try and go to the U.S. to take care of it,” he said.
Ruvalcaba is uninsured, he said, but can still rely on his family for economic support, if necessary.
Cuevas said she is in a similar situation.
“If I would get the virus, I would have to get help in Mexico,” she said. “That’s one of the reasons why I moved in with my dad. If something were to happen to me, they could help me.”
Ruvalcaba said the pandemic has led him to reflect on life and priorities.
“This is going to give us a good lesson,” he said. “It is going to make us think how vulnerable we are as human beings. It is going to teach us how to overcome the problems that affects all of us.”
For a list of student resources click here.
In Tijuana, free psychological counseling is available via Zoom or WhatsApp. Schedule an appointment by calling 663 201-8276 or 663 201-3617.
