Border Patrol agents opened the metal barrier on the border west of San Ysidro on Thursday and processed migrants who had gathered there over the past week seeking asylum.
Hundreds of migrants from all over the world — including Africans, South Americans, Middle Easterners, and Asians — had been stuck between the two metal border barriers for days, in a scene reminiscent of the large numbers of migrants who gathered there in May.
Aid workers on Tuesday brought water and food to feed the migrants, who included families with children.
On Thursday, agents took pictures of the migrants and their passports and then loaded them and their belongings into vans for processing at an undisclosed location.
Photos taken by Reuters showed a line of women from the country of Georgia on the Black Sea presenting identification to a Border Patrol officer.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection temporarily closed the Ped West crossing in Otay Mesa Thursday so that officers could help with the processing.
The area between the two metal barriers appeared to be mostly cleared with a few remaining makeshift encampments and tents left empty.
The surge left many of the region’s migrant shelters at capacity, forcing the Border Patrol to drop off some processed migrants at the Iris Avenue trolley station, leaving them to find their own way to friends or relatives in the United States..
In May, a COVID-era provision known as Title 42 that blocked most asylum seekers from legal entry to the United States expired, prompting hundreds to camp out between the same barriers hoping to cross the border.
Reuters and OnScene.TV contributed to this article.