Citing “heightened migrant activity”, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced that it will be “temporarily suspending operations” at the border of Lukeville, Arizona.
Customs and Border Protection announced that personnel from the Office of Field Operations at Lukeville will be assisting U.S. Border Patrol with apprehending migrants. Officials reported that the personnel are redirecting to help with the border security.
Until further notice, Lukeville Port of Entry’s pedestrian and vehicular traffic in both directions will be suspended. Those with travel plans from the Phoenix area to Rocky Point will not be able to gain access into Mexico through this point of entry until further notice.
Visitors can go through either the Nogales Port of Entry in Nogales, Arizona or the San Luis Port of Entry in San Luis, Arizona.
Prior to the announcement last week, the agency declared that they would be “diminishing” the number of vehicles at the Lukeville location.
The U.S. closed a Texas port of entry and limited traffic at another in order to concentrate resources on illegal entries.
Arizona Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly along with Governor Katie Hobbs issued the following statement on the Lukeville Port of Entry closure due to the border crisis.
“Arizona border communities are in crisis and our men and women on the front lines do not have the resources they need to manage the overwhelming numbers of migrants crossing the border. With over 2,000 migrants coming across the Tucson sector daily, CBP has announced they will temporarily close the Lukeville, Arizona Port of Entry and redirect all officers – who would otherwise manage the everyday travel of workers and tourists that businesses rely on and trade that drives our economy forward – to instead help U.S. Border Patrol process migrants.
“This is an unacceptable outcome that further destabilizes our border, risks the safety of our communities, and damages our economy by disrupting trade and tourism. 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.
“Our offices are in constant contact with CBP leadership, Border Patrol Agents and CBP Officers, Mexican officials, the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, and leadership at DHS as we monitor the situation. Enough is enough – Arizona deserves real solutions to our border crisis. The Administration must send immediate resources to secure the border and help our communities. Partisan politicians who parrot talking points while watching the border further deteriorate must reject the echo chamber and work with us to get something done and keep our communities safe.”
