Day after day, hundreds of trucks cross Arizona’s border with Mexico packed full of fresh produce. This could now be at risk. President Trump is giving Mexico one week to stop the flow of undocumented immigrants into the US, or else he’ll close off the border. The closing of the southern border with Mexico would potentially have a huge impact on travel and trade.
Douglas, Naco, Nogales, Sasabe, Lukeville and San Luis make up the ports of entry on the Arizona-Mexico border. Approximately 400,000 trucks pass through the ports between Arizona and Mexico each year. In 2018, they transported more than $11 billion in US goods to Mexico. When it comes to imports, Arizona ports of entry cleared more than $16 billion in goods coming from Mexico.
On Friday, carriers, shippers, brokers and importers received a note from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol stating trucks would no longer be processed on Sunday. The note reads in part:
"This bulletin serves as notice that March 31, 2019 will be the last day of Sunday service at the Mariposa Commercial Facility.....Customs and Border Protection is facing an unprecedented humanitarian and border security crisis all along our Southwest border.....To combat this surge, 750 Customs and Border Protection officers will be deployed to areas being severely affected. To lessen the impact of this deployment on legitimate trade and travel, ports are realigning their workforce and limiting or discontinuing some services. CBP will continue to monitor the situation and strive to restore services as soon as operationally possible."
And the stress continues to pile on now that President Trump is threatening to close the border completely. "If we saw a shutdown as the President has discussed we would see layoffs probably the next day.” said Lance Jungmeyer, the President of the Fresh Produce Association
Source: kold.com