The Lukeville Port of Entry in Arizona, which had been closed for a month due to a significant influx of migrants, is set to reopen on January 4, 2024. The closure was prompted by a surge in illegal crossings, with numbers surpassing 10,000 in December. However, the decision to reopen the border crossing is based on a decline in illegal crossings. Other border crossings in California, Texas, and Arizona are also reopening. The closure of these crossings disrupted trade, tourism, and community safety in the affected regions, but the reopening is expected to alleviate some of these impacts [e0b532de].
The closure of the Lukeville Port of Entry had put pressure on U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from Arizona's top elected officials, as it is a popular route for travel to the resort area of Puerto Peñasco. The closure also affected cargo rail crossings in Eagle Pass and El Paso, which temporarily closed due to large numbers of migrants riding freight trains through Mexico to the U.S. border. The closure of these crossings allowed CBP to reassign officials for processing migrants [e0b532de].