LUKEVILLE, Ariz. — A month-long closure at one of Arizona’s busiest border crossings came to an end on Thursday, allowing travel and commerce to move through the area once again.
Alondra Leon and her family used the Lukeville Port of Entry on their way home, back to California, after spending two weeks with relatives in Caborca, Sonora, Mexico.
“It was better to come through where we already know than going somewhere else or we don’t know where to stop at,” Leon said.
The border closure didn’t stop her family from being with loved ones for the holidays, but that was not the case for many families, who were separated by the 30-day temporary operational suspension. U.S. Customs and Border Protection diverted port-of-entry agents to help Border Patrol process and transport migrants during a record-breaking surge in the area.
The Chair of the Pima County Board of Supervisors, Adelita Grijalva, was one of many leaders who gathered in Lukeville hours after the border reopened to call out the month-long closure.
“The economic impact has been devastating to this area,” Grijalva said. “Now that it’s open, we can focus the real energy on working with our federal partners and advocating for the kind of immigration reform we need in order to make our system make sense, but also to hopefully advocate for ensuring that these kinds of closures don’t happen in the future.”
Aaron Cooper, with the International Sonoran Desert Alliance, said the port of entry was a lifeline that kept a community together and also helped it support itself, but the closure impacted it “in a really powerful and negative way.”
“We are really trying to be vocal about how important this port of entry is, and how the 23 agents that help run it are not going to solve the challenges that we’re seeing along this border,” Cooper said. “They are not the solution, closing this port of entry is not the solution.”
Since July, the Tucson Sector has seen the highest number of encounters on the southwest border. According to Chief Patrol Agent John Modlin, agents apprehended more than 73,000 people in December, up from 64,638 Border Patrol encounters in November.
In November, 191,113 people were encountered between ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the latest data released by CBP.
However local leaders question if the closure was an effective solution to curve migration.
“The numbers that we saw of individuals that are being brought into Pima County and Casa Alitas did not go down,” Jan Lesher, Pima County Administrator said. “We’re now averaging about 9,500 individuals a week. So, divide that by seven, it’s a lot coming through every day… none of that changed during the month when this port was closed.”
Supervisor Dr. Sylvia Lee said federal funds the county uses to transport, house, and provide certain services to migrants are expected to run out at the end of February.
“By the end of February, that goes away,” Lee said. “I know everyone is afraid of street releases, but that’s the reality if we don’t get help.”
Economic impact
The Lukeville port of entry was closed when the area experienced its busiest time of the year, when thousands of travelers usually make their way into Mexico to visit family, to the beaches in Puerto Peñasco, or cross into the U.S. for the holidays.
“It was night and day,” said Cory Evenson. “I got to know my locals very well and people in uniform.”
Evenson is one of two employees who remained working at the Chevron gas station in the town of Why, 30 minutes north of the U.S.-Mexico border. Five of his coworkers were let go because of the loss in business.
The gas station owner told 12News he estimates his business lost over $200,000 worth of business. He remodeled the store and opened it four months before the closure.
“In the summer I’m going to feel it,” Rosalba Bustamante, owner of Granny’s Kitchen Mexican Food, said regarding what her financial hit was.
Bustamante has run her restaurant for 14 years and doesn’t close it in the summer as other businesses do. During the winter peak months, she usually saves money to offset the slow summer months, so she is still unsure how much of a hit she will take.
Puerto Peñasco, or Rocky Point as most people call it, was hit the hardest.
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Mayor Jorge Pivac told 12News they are estimating a more than $50 million loss. That assessment doesn’t include real estate, he said, so the total financial hit will rise.
“I don’t think the decision of closing the border was the best because it doesn’t solve the problem with migration,” Pivac said. “I mean to me, it created another problem by closing the border.”
Another problem is the financial hit many border towns and residents experienced during the month-long suspension of operations.
“I don’t think it has helped much,” Bustamente said. “The problem is still there, or are you going to tell me that absolutely no one is going to cross anymore? Migrants are still there.”
While the port-of-entry was back to fully operational, the border wall near the border crossing where thousands of migrants had been gathering to turn themselves to federal authorities to seek asylum or refuge was empty Thursday. A complete contrast to Dec. 4, the day the crossing closed and hundreds waited days, at times weeks, to be processed by federal officials.
The Morley Gate in Nogales also resumed operations on Thursday. The small, pedestrian-only crossing was closed in September by the Mexican government for a renovation project.
The Morley Gate and the Lukeville Port of Entry are among a total of four border crossings that reopened on Jan. 4 after shuttering operations last year.
Although the closure means things are back to normal, Nogales Mayor Jorge Maldonado said he worries rising migration numbers could continue and shut down more crossings, like the Mariposa Port of Entry, which he was told could close when Lukeville’s closure was announced.
“It worried us, but we’re glad all these borders are reopened and hopefully they stay open,” Maldonado said.
The Border
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