SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Since the end of Title 42 last week, longer border waits have been encountered by commuters like Erika Lopez who drives almost daily from Tijuana to Escondido, California, located 40 miles north of the border to visit family.

“It was like five hours the last time I crossed,” said Lopez about her experience at the San Ysidro Port of Entry on Monday. “It’s very frustrating, especially when you have to use the restroom. Very frustrating.”

According to Lopez, the frustration and the long waits got really bad since Title 42 expired Thursday night.

Using concrete barricades and tall fencing with concertina wire, just inside U.S. soil, Customs and Border Protection officers have created bottlenecks along the traffic lanes to prevent large groups of migrants from trying to rush through.

The officers ask drivers to show documentation before they are allowed to proceed to the inspection booths about 100 yards to the north.

This is slowing down traffic and generating longer than normal wait times to cross into the U.S.

“It started out at the end of Title 42,” said Fernando Rascon. “Recently it’s been five to six hour waits, before that it was 35 to 40 minutes,.”

On Wednesday morning when Border Report spoke with Rascon as he waited in line, he did admit the wait was shorter than what he’s been encountering lately.

The CBP border wait time website showed drivers were waiting about 160 minutes for regular crossings. Sentri and Ready lanes were much faster.

“I do this every day,” Rascon said. “I work in the United States and I live in Tijuana because of the expense. It’s a lot cheaper to live down there than it is to live up there.”

Border Report reached out to CBP about the long border waits and when the times to cross the border might improve. We will update this story when we receive a response.

In the meantime, Rascon and Lopez are stuck getting up earlier in the morning to get north of the border.

“It’s just terrible,” Lopez said.