Smugglers are bringing migrants to a remote Arizona border crossing, overwhelming US agents

LUKEVILLE, Ariz. — Gerston Miranda and his wife were among thousands of migrants recently arriving at this remote area on Arizona’s southern border with Mexico, squeezing into the United States through a gap in the wall and walking overnight about 14 miles (23 kilometers) with two school-aged daughters to surrender to Border Patrol agents.

“There is no security in my country,” said the 28-year-old from Ecuador, who lost work when his employer closed due to extortion by criminals. “Without security you cannot work. You cannot live.”

A shift in smuggling routes has brought an influx of migrants here from countries as diverse as Senegal, Bangladesh and China, prompting the Border Patrol to seek help from other federal agencies and drawing scrutiny to an issue critical in next year’s presidential elections.

With hundreds of migrants crossing daily in the area, the U.S. government on Monday indefinitely shut down the nearby international crossing between Lukeville, Arizona, and Sonoyta, Mexico, to free Customs and Border Protection officers assigned to the port of entry to help with transportation and other support. The agency also has partially closed a few other border ports of entry in recent months, including a pedestrian crossing in San Diego and a bridge in Eagle Pass, Texas.

Customs and Border Protection “continues to surge personnel and resources to the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector to expeditiously take migrants into custody,” the agency said Sunday. “The fact is we are enforcing the law, and there are consequences for those who fail to use lawful pathways.”

“Individuals encountered at the border are screened and vetted, and those without a legal basis to stay are removed,” it said, adding that consequences can include a minimum five-year bar on re-entry. The agency said it is also focusing efforts on smugglers and transportation networks like bus lines that bring the migrants through northern Mexico.

Critics of closing the Lukeville crossing, including Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs; the state’s two U.S. senators, the governor of Mexico’s Sonora state and the leadership of the nearby Tohono O’odham Nation, said it could harm trade and tourism.