Mexican tourists trickle into Nogales as border reopens to nonessential travel

For the first time in nearly two years, Sandra Cecilia Galván Alvarez crossed the U.S.-Mexico border into Nogales, Arizona. She beamed as she paid for a pair of sunglasses at La Cinderella, a women’s shoes, clothing and accessory shop a half-block up from the border.

Shoppers and people coming to visit family trickled in from Mexico on Monday morning at the two ports of entry in Nogales, waiting in line only a few minutes.

Those traveling for nonessential reasons, who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, were allowed to come into the U.S. on Nov. 8 for the first time in more than a year and a half. The country closed its borders to nonessential travel on March 21, 2020, because of the pandemic.

The number of people who could cross the U.S.-Mexico border during the closure dropped dramatically, with people who are not U.S. residents allowed to cross only for reasons that included work, education and medical treatment.

Galván says there is more variety in the shops on the U.S. side of the border and she likes the styles.

There has been talk that some Mexican shoppers changed their shopping habits during the extended closure and will continue to shop on the Mexico side rather than cross, but not Galván.

“I just decided, I’m going,” she said with a huge smile on her face. “I like it here.”

Hoping traffic will grow

Store owners waited with anticipation for flocks of shoppers, who as of Monday morning had not materialized.

The anticipated rush may not have happened Monday morning for a few reasons besides people’s shopping habits changing. Shop owners and employees say many people are working on Monday morning, they don’t have as much money to shop since the pandemic, and also, many may have stayed home in anticipation of long lines.

La Cinderella owner Evan Kory exudes the same excitement and anticipation as many shop owners in downtown Nogales. He hired two additional employees and ordered extra merchandise in anticipation of the day. He hoped business would pick up in the afternoon and on the weekend.

While the store is still relatively quiet, one of his wholesale shoppers came in Monday morning. For nearly two years, she had been making her orders through Facebook Messenger, and the store had a U.S. resident, who could still cross during the closure, deliver the orders.

The extended closure has been hard on La Cinderella and its sister store that’s right across from the Morley port of entry, which opened for the first time since the border closed. La Cinderella had to pivot to online sales to survive, using Messenger and WhatsApp to take orders from its established customer base. It also relied more heavily on sales from its third store, which primarily caters to U.S. shoppers.

U.S./Mexico Border Reopens — Travelers cross back and forth at the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry in Nogales, Ariz., after the international border reopened Monday to nonessential travel.
Mamta Popat, Arizona Daily Star

Many of the smaller shops on Morley Avenue did not survive the extended border closure. At least 20 stores closed in the small downtown center because of the pandemic and border closure, the Nogales Chamber of Commerce said.

Prepandemic, 60% to 70% of sales in Santa Cruz County came from Mexican shoppers.

F.W. Woolworth Co. owner Bruce Bracker shuttered the doors to his clothing shop on Morley for the entirety of the border closure. Monday was its first day open in two years, evident by the windows displaying still-bare mannequins.

“When the border was closed, there was no opportunity to do business,” said Bracker, who is also a Santa Cruz County supervisor.

Morley Avenue was already depressed before the closure, and it’s going to take time for shoppers to come back, he said. He hopes holiday shopping will draw more people.

“Every time we’ve had an issue with the border, people’s buying habits change,” he said.

Ports of entry fully staffed

In 2019, the ports of entry were short staffed, but they’re fully staffed now and ready for the anticipated increase in travelers, said Nogales area port director Michael Humphries during a news conference last week.

Besides using the newly reopened Morley pedestrian crossing, Mexican tourists had an opportunity to obtain their visas at the crossing for the last week and a half in order to reduce congestion and wait times. As of Nov. 3, more than 1,300 people had taken advantage of that service.

“That’s 1,300 people that aren’t going to have to stand in line, that aren’t going to have to find a parking space near the port,” Humphries said. “It’s going to alleviate congestion. It’s going to speed up the process. So we’re doing everything humanly possible to be able to make the experience a better one.

“We’re fully aware of the economic implications. I know businesses want to get back up and going. We know the government makes money from sales tax revenue. And so we want both sides of the border to flourish.”

The border reopening is huge for Arizona border towns like Nogales and Douglas but also for cities like Tucson and the state as a whole. Pre-COVID, the Department of Homeland Security counted 20 million to 25 million visits from Mexican nationals crossing the border into Arizona, spending about $1 billion in Tucson and about $2.5 billion a year across the state.

Isabel Gutierrez came up from Hermosillo on Monday to cross the border into Nogales, Arizona, for the first time in two years, with her teenager, her 4-year-old and her mother. They are excited to visit family in Phoenix, to go to the zoo and to do some shopping. She hasn’t seen her cousins in Arizona since the closure, which is the case for many families who have been separated by the border closure.

Sixto Martinez Vaca crossed to buy used refrigerators, washing machines and dryers for his shop in Sonora. He says the closure was very hard on his business of selling used appliances, so he is very glad the border reopened and crossing went smoothly.

Vaccine issues

Another potential reason the traffic was not heavy as of Monday morning is that not everyone who received a COVID vaccine in Mexico can cross because they need a vaccine that is approved by the World Health Organization, which are Moderna, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Covishield, BBIBP-CorV and Sinovac.

Unvaccinated children can cross the border with an adult who is fully vaccinated.

As of early September, about 83% of adults living in Sonora had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to KJZZ Fronteras Desk. But two common vaccines used in Mexico, Sputnik V and CanSino, are not authorized.

The Pan American Health Organization says that only allowing people to enter who have certain vaccines could be discriminatory and that a criteria of differentiating vaccines for COVID-19 should not be used.

It’s important for countries to reach multilateral agreements so they can accept all the vaccines that are being used, which is also good for countries’ tourism and businesses, said PAHO Assistant Director Jarbas Barbosa during a news conference in October.

Bracker, the Nogales business owner, feels the border reopening was long overdue.

“It’s another step toward normality,” he said. “We’ve got to get back to normal.”