Farmers, officials talk about impacts of long border wait times (Yuma Sun)
Local leaders talked about the long lines at the border and how they are affecting their communities at a roundtable hosted by Rep. Ruben Gallego on Friday.
Officials and farmers also expressed concerns that the San Luis Port of Entry could be closed, putting a damper on local commerce and tourism, and that other port closures will likely make the already long wait times to cross into Mexico and the U.S. longer, threatening the livelihood and health of farm workers who cross the border daily to harvest the fields, jeopardizing the nation’s food security.
Gallego met with local officials, health providers and farmers in Yuma to discuss the impact that the closing of the Lukeville Port of Entry has had on their businesses and economy. Gathered at the Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture, attendees included leaders from San Luis, Somerton, Yuma and Cocopah Tribe.
“Once Lukeville was announced it was closed, I knew that this area was going to be particularly worried because Lukeville, while it’s an important port, when it comes to business right now, the ports down here are extremely important, both for the traffic going north and south, for the workers that come in and pull our food from the fields and for the packaging and sending up,” Gallego told the Yuma Sun.
“I just wanted to hear what people were worried about, what they think is missing, what we should be doing as a federal government to be helpful. And from what I learned, there’s a lot that we should be doing,” he noted.
Indeed, port closures have made Buna George, executive director of the Greater Yuma Port Authority, fear that a San Luis port closure is next. “We got notice this morning that one of the pedestrian crossings at Otay Mesa has now been temporarily suspended. So you look at that, with the closure in Lukeville, and you wonder, do we just kind of have to heed that warning? Is that something that they already have in mind that they’re going to start shifting that personnel?”
The long wait times to cross the border were a surprise for Gallego. “I only hear sometimes about the shutdowns, we don’t really hear about the slowdowns. But slowdowns obviously affect people and affect the workers going back and forth, affect the families going back and forth. So that is a problem that I’m gonna bring back to CBP (Customs and Border Protection) and port authorities,” Gallego said.
The wait times were San Luis Mayor Nieves Riedel’s main concerns. “I’m very much concerned because of the field workers. They come, they put in long hours and they spend many, many hours a day waiting in their cars, some people deciding to stay in San Luis, instead of going into Mexico, so they’re sleeping in the streets,” she said.
Farmer Chris Auza also worries about the workers who travel to and from Mexico every day to harvest the fields. “They live in Mexico. Just trying to get back and forth everyday is just kind of a nightmare,” he said.
George called them “a tired workforce.” She said: “It’s inefficient for the industry, and mind you, this area’s the one that’s feeding America.”
Mary Campbell, also a farmer and board member of the Yuma Fresh Vegetable Association, worries about the health and safety of the workers. “It’s approaching four hours now coming in, and again, they’re arriving at 2 a.m. to sleep in their cars, and I worry about the health of people who are trying to put in a long day’s work doing the best they can. Safety issues, they’re driving heavy equipment, working around harvesting crews. It’s really frightening,” Campbell said.
San Luis Councilwoman Maria Cecilia Cruz noted that closing the San Luis Port of Entry would be “so devastating for our farmers. Not only our farmers, our Mexican neighbors that do the job that some of us don’t want to do. I sure don’t want to do it. We don’t want our kids doing it. But they are more than willing.”
Cruz has personally seen field workers sleeping on cardboards on the streets of San Luis. “I’ve had to pick up the cardboards in front of our offices. Cardboard, just laying there, and then they gotta go to work the next day.”
Campbell believes that the rest of the country is “ignorant” about these issues. “To see our workers challenged every single day, and what they’re doing for our country, and I keep going back to food security. Everybody likes a salad. These other cities don’t think they’re affected because somehow we’re getting that food to them day in and day out. And I guess that’s what’s so frustrating to me that so many areas of our country don’t understand it, and that’s where the administration is missing the boat ignoring this,” she added.
Gallego agreed with her. “You’re not wrong. People just don’t understand this area. You’d be surprised how many times I tell people like you’re eating any type of salad right now, there’s a 90% chance it’s coming from Yuma County. And I mean, they’re shocked. They really can’t wrap their minds around the idea that this area is so integral to our food security,” he said.
By: Mara Knaub
Source: Yuma Sun