Crawford Street in Nogales.U.S.-bound foot traffic at the Nogales border has increased by 250,000 people since 2014, the U.S. Department of Transportation has reported.
But that hasn’t translated into more people shopping in downtown Nogales, Ariz., one merchant said. In fact, he said, the opposite is true.
That is because of understaffing of U.S. Customs agents at the pedestrian crossings of the border, department store owner Bruce Bracker said. Government figures show Border Patrol and Customs are down almost 1,000 positions in Nogales.
"What that equates to is that lines are closed (at the border crossings)," Bracker said. "Wait times are longer and people are changing their buying habits."
Bracker's grandparents opened Bracker's Department Store in 1907, and since then it has catered to customers from both sides of the border.
That is, until border security restrictions tightened a few years ago.
Besides long lines at the crossings, the decade-old requirement that all U.S. residents show their passports to return to the country after they visit south of the border is deterring people, Bracker said.
He said winter visitors and those who come to Arizona year round used to incorporate a trip across the border as part of their visit. Now, he said, "It's just too much of a hassle," and they don't even come to Nogales, let alone cross into Mexico.
Bracker said merchants want two changes: more agents at the border and a relaxing of border crossing regulations between Nogales, Sonora, and Nogales, Ariz.
By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.