Arizona's governor worries U.S. might close more border crossings

Gov. Katie Hobbs says she worries the closure of the border crossing at Lukeville could spread.

“We’re already seeing a huge impact on tourism and trade,’’ Hobbs said Monday, speaking just hours after the port of entry was shuttered indefinitely. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the closure was necessary so its officers can aid the Border Patrol in processing the flood of migrants entering the country at places other than official crossings.

The governor said that raises concern the federal government could decide its officers at other ports of entry, who screen pedestrians and vehicles entering this country, also need to be redeployed.

“I don’t want to find out what could happen,’’ Hobbs said. “So, hopefully, we won’t be having that conversation. We’re letting the feds know how frustrated we are and how bad this decision is.’’

The timing, in some ways, could not have been worse.

December tends to be the busiest month for Mexicans to cross into Arizona, often to shop at stores in Nogales and also in the Tucson and Phoenix areas. Closure of the Lukeville port of entry comes even as Nogales’ Morley crossing for pedestrians, shut down in September for what was supposed to be just two months, remains closed.

Additional wait times at the remaining ports as traffic is diverted from Lukeville could become a deterrence to international travel.

Hobbs said she did not have an immediate estimate about the economic impact of the Lukeville and Morley closures but said it could reach into the billions of dollars.

Nearly 1.5 million people in vehicles crossed into Arizona at Nogales in December 2022, the highest month since before the 2020 recession, and 545,000 pedestrians also crossed, data from the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona show.

The UA report does not have economic impact data.

But a 2008 study prepared by the Arizona Office of Tourism — the most recent available — showed that in total, non-U.S. citizens crossing the border spent more than $562 million in the state in December of that year. That figure amounted to nearly 21% of all spending by Mexican visitors in Arizona for the entire year.

“This is a bad decision that impacts our border security,’’ Hobbs said of the Lukeville closure, which CBP announced suddenly on Friday. “It hurts our economy because it’s putting a damper on trade and tourism.”

Hobbs, a Democrat, reaffirmed her position the state has no intention of trying to use its own resources and personnel to staff the Lukeville entry and keep it open, as requested last week by state Sen. T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge.

Asked Monday what she intends to do, Hobbs responded, “We’re certainly in communication with folks on the ground. And we’re looking at all our options.’’

But Hobbs said having the state run the port of entry is “not something that they’re asking for right now,” she said, after talking with mayors and other border residents.

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The solution has to come from Washington, D.C, she said. “We need the federal government to step up and do its job and secure our border.”

More agents should be hired, Hobbs said.

“I mean, they’re pulling agents from Lukeville to do processing,’’ she said. “And if they were providing more resources, they wouldn’t have to do that.’’

Hobbs isn’t the only one seeking more federal staff.

Verlon Jose, chairman of the Tohono O’odham Nation that borders Mexico, said the shuttering of the Lukeville crossing will have immediate impacts on members of the tribe.

“Closing a legal port of entry, effectively shutting down all legal crossings and significant cross-border activity for an entire region, makes no sense whatsoever,’’ Jose said in a written statement. “The (O’odham) Nation will continue to call on Customs and Border Protection to bring in additional manpower to address border-related activities at the border.’’

Jose also found common ground with Hobbs on what both said is a longer-term solution: comprehensive immigration reform.

Neither spelled out exactly what that should include.

But the concept has come to be considered a combination of increased border enforcement along with changes in laws to allow U.S. companies to bring in more workers legally. So far, though, efforts to enact that have stalled, at least in part because some congressional members want the border secured first before considering anything else.

The International Sonoran Desert Alliance posted an open letter to Democratic President Joe Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas criticizing the closure and saying that, from a numeric perspective, it makes little sense.

“The reality is that the 23 agents that operate the Lukeville port of entry will not make a substantive difference in the capacity of the 3,700 Tucson sector Border Patrol agents’ ability to respond,’’ wrote Aaron Cooper, executive director of the organization, which focuses its attention on environmental, border and social issues issues in Ajo and surrounding areas.

“However, in their current capacity at the Lukeville port of entry, those 23 agents represent a lifeline for small, vulnerable communities that daily depend on this port of entry,” he said.

Cooper also said if the port remains closed — and there has been no announcement of any reopening plans or dates — “jobs will be lost, businesses will fail, kids will withdraw from school, families will be separated and, in all likelihood, people will die due to the increased burden of accessing necessary medical care.’’