Arizona Border Crisis Crushing Local Economy

A surge in illegal immigrants flooding into the country has caused economic hardship for businesses in the border city of Nogales, Arizona, where traffic has come to a virtual standstill. The closing of the heavily-trafficked port of entry in Lukeville, Arizona, has led to a bottleneck effect at other ports, including in Nogales. As a result, wait times to enter the United States have gone from an average of 15–45 minutes to 2–5 hours, leading many potential shoppers to just stay home—to the detriment of local businesses. Mark Willmeth, the manager at Border Pawn and Coins in Nogales, told The Epoch Times that the loss of traffic from Mexican tourists wanting to shop for the holidays has had a devastating effect on the local economy....