ROCKY POINT, Sonora — Businesses in Rocky Point say they're struggling in the wake of the Lukeville border crossing station shutdown and they don't know how much longer they can hold on.
"I went down there once on a Friday night," Cynthia Lowe said. "All the strip clubs were closed. So, you know it's bad when the strip clubs are closed!"
Lowe owns Ole Mole Penasco restaurant in Rocky Point, a restaurant that is now struggling to stay open. She had six employees, Lowe said. Now, she has only two. That's four families who lost their income because she doesn't have the business to pay them.
"It's a lot of stress," Lowe said. "I cry a lot. When I tell you my whole life savings is at stake here, I'm not joking. It's scary."
Lukeville was the fastest and easiest way to get to Rocky Point from Phoenix and Tucson. When the crossing was open, the drive could take under three hours. Now, with the crossing closed, the drive through Yuma takes more than six hours. And Lowe said tourists just don't want to take that trip.
"The first hour coming out of Pensaco is not pleasant," she said. "You have to go very, very slow. the potholes are horrendous."
Besides bad roads, there are concerns about the safety of the longer route. The U.S. State Department recently banned government officials from travelling to Rocky Point along that route for safety. It also warned US citizens to reconsider their travel along that route.
This would normally be a busy holiday weekend in Rocky Point.
"The popular New Year's events down here, many of the biggest parties down here at the biggest beach bars have been cancelled," Scott Poturalski said.
Poturalski is a sales agent for the new Encantame Resorts in Rocky Point. There are hundreds of condos in the newly-built towers, he said, and only a handful are occupied.
"It's pretty dismal," he said. "It feels like when COVID hit."
The U.S. Border Patrol has given no update on when the border crossing station might reopen, but the closure is currently going into its second month.
Unless it reopens soon, Lowe said her business may not be able to survive.
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