An Arizona port of entry that was closed last month for what border officials said was a larger than usual number of asylum seekers in the area reopened Thursday.
The Lukeville port of entry, located about midway between Yuma County and Nogales, Ariz, reopened along with the Morley Gate in Nogales. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials had closed the port on Dec. 4 indefinitely.
Tourists from Phoenix who primarily use the Lukeville port as their most direct path into Puerto Peñasco/Rocky Point said they were upset they would have to take longer routes through Nogales or San Luis, Ariz.
Furthermore, businesses in the Lukeville area were impacted and the other Arizona ports braced for higher traffic during an already busy month for Mexicans going home to see family and friends during the holidays as well as the usual traffic from farmworkers.
U.S. Senators Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema issued a joint statement saying they are happy the port was reopening but that more must be done to help border communities and specifically non-profit organizations who are providing services for migrants.
In their statement, Sens. Kelly and Sinema said "in Arizona, we continue to experience the devastating effects of this unacceptable closure and our broken border system. Arizona’s border communities are in crisis – and closing Lukeville and redirecting port officers to help U.S. Border Patrol process migrants due to a broken border system further destabilized our border and disrupted trade and tourism our economy depends on."
Gov. Katie Hobbs, who visited the Lukeville port soon after it closed, said she was also pleased with the reopening but that more must be done.
In a released statement, Gov. Hobbs said "While the reopening is welcome news, this closure shouldn’t have happened in the first place. Arizona’s ports of entry are vital to national security and trade, and it’s critical that the federal government sends more resources to ensure this does not happen again."
