NOGALES, Ariz. (KGUN) — Businesses in Nogales look forward to holiday shoppers coming over from Mexico to build up their bottom line. But it can discourage those shoppers when Federal resources shift somewhere else to process asylum seekers.
La Cinderella, 85 N. Morley Ave., Nogales, Ariz. 85621, is just a quick walk from the border, but fewer people are taking that walk to spend money here.
“Our sales are down probably 20 or 30% since September. It's been affecting us severely.
La Cinderella owner Gregory Kory says usually 90 percent of his customers come from Mexico. They’ve had to wait longer to cross the border since Customs and Border Protection started moving inspectors away from the ports to help process the surge of asylum seekers.
There’s still more slowdown because construction on the Mexican side closed the pedestrian gate on Morley Avenue.
“Help! Help!”
Nogales Mayor Jorge Maldonado says that’s what he hears from merchants in his city.
“We rely on the 450,000 people that Nogales Sonora has, to come into Nogales, Arizona and purchase in Nogales, Arizona, and help us with our budget.”
The mayor says CBP is trying to keep cross border traffic flowing, and the city is setting up events to help promote Nogales businesses. He says it is an incentive for cross border shoppers that the Peso is strong right now so Mexican shoppers have more buying power.
But Mayor Maldonado says the real path back to normal is for the Federal Government to tighten up immigration so the port inspectors can go back to their usual jobs.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
