Although it is remote, the Lukeville border crossing is the one regularly used to travel from Arizona to Puerto Peñasco, or Rocky Point, a resort area in the Mexican state of Sonora on the Sea of Cortez. Americans also drive through the crossing to visit the border community of Sonoyta for a meal, shop or to get less expensive dental and medical care.
Some Mexican children ride a northbound bus across the border every day to go to school. Arizona Senators Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema, along with Gov. Katie Hobbs, blasted the planned closure and demanded better solutions from President Joe Biden’s administration.
“This is an an unacceptable outcome that further destabilizes our border, risks the safety of our communities, and damages our economy by disrupting trade and tourism,” they said in a joint statement. “The Federal Government must act swiftly to maintain port of entry operations, get the border under control, keep Arizona communities safe, and ensure the humane treatment of migrants.”
Kelly and Hobbs, both Democrats, and Sinema, an independent who was elected as a Democrat, also criticized “partisan politicians who parrot talking points while watching the border further deteriorate.”
They said those politicians should instead ”reject the echo chamber and work with us to get something done and keep our communities safe.”
An average of 3,140 people in vehicles and 184 pedestrians entered the U.S. daily in Lukeville during October, according to the U.S. Transportation Department’s latest figures. Travelers will still be able to cross into or out of the United States through Nogales, Arizona, a three-hour drive to the east, or San Luis, Arizona, a two-hour drive to the west.
Customs and Border Protection earlier this week began limiting traffic at the Lukeville port. The agency on Monday also closed one of two bridges to vehicles in Eagle Pass, Texas, a town of about 30,000 people that, for a while last year, was the busiest corridor for illegal crossings.
Source: NBC News
