Lukeville — Crossing the Line, No Date for Reopening

Nobody comes in. Nobody goes out. There is neither peace nor quiet. Time is not paused. There is nothing frozen in air. The Lukeville Port of Entry in Arizona is not in a coma; it is a hemorrhage of migration that no temporary restriction at the border can stop.

Closing one checkpoint is like blocking a water jet in a wading pool: dry here and overflowing over there. It’s not the first time the United States has temporarily closed a checkpoint. There have been others that stayed closed for days or even for years.

During the pandemic, the border crossings were converted into more tightly sealed filters for the privileged, but there were some leaks and drips. This time, however, it is different: The flow of migrants has gotten out of hand. It’s not that many are coming; rather, only a few are here. It is not an invasion. There is no free passage. There are no waves. It is a phenomenon to which we would like to turn a blind eye.

The question of the restrictions and the interruption of operations at the Arizona border crossing carries its own concealed answer. That ill-timed shutdown shows the lack of resources dedicated to public safety in a border area where most politicians prostitute themselves campaigning for elections. It’s not that they’re pressing for millions for technology updates; it’s that they’re short on people. It’s that it is far away, and the White House and Congress fail to see it clearly. It is a myopia that distorts the rhetoric while those who are here survive.

When will the port of entry be reopened? There is no response. Customs and Border Protection agents say that it will depend on how many migrants still have to be processed, the number of arrests and encounters, the flow of migrants and the resources. Authorities on both sides of the border are calling for it to be reopened, and they’re using it as a rallying cry for the coming elections, but few of them show up there before the world forgets about it. It’s also a political move.

Lukeville is not a port of entry for processing asylum claims. Asylum is not listed as an option on the CBP One application, so why are there so many asylum seekers crowded in front of the wall? Where are they coming from, and how are they getting here?

According to the U.S. authorities, they may also be victims of human traffickers who leave them in the desert with hopes of being processed. Maybe they’re just migrants who don’t know much but believe a lot. It’s a combination of everything: Meanwhile, there are hundreds waiting on the U.S. side of the wall to be processed, from Lukeville to Ajo, Yuma, Tucson and Nogales. They’ve been standing in line for days in the extreme desert, and the U.S. authorities can’t keep up.