The governors of Sonora, Mexico, and Arizona said they are not going to let the rhetoric of the presumed Republican presidential contender get in the way of their efforts to expand the cross-border economy.
Sonora Governor Claudia Pavlovich was in Scottsdale last week for the annual Arizona-Mexico Commission summit. Pavlovich said she wants to focus on creating what she called "a mega-region" of the two states designed to attract companies interested in doing business on both sides of the border. She said that means more trade, more tourism and more emphasis on convincing businesses that the border is not a barrier but instead simply separates two halves of a whole.
Pavlovich's comments came despite presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump having called Mexican immigrants "rapists'' and vowing to build a wall along the border and make Mexico pay for it.
Pavlovich said she is not blind to all that. "We have to overcome all the obstacles that are before us," she said. "Governor (Doug) Ducey and myself will overcome all the obstacles that we see in front of us."
Ducey, who has agreed to back Trump as his party's nominee, said that the candidate's rhetoric is just something that has to be dealt with. "There are certain political realities we need to be aware of," he said of Trump's controversial statements. "And at the same time, if we focus on what the goal is, what are objectives are in terms of growing the economy, having safer communities, improving tourism and trade, we can work around those."
Ducey has made smoothing relations with Sonora a priority since taking office last year. Specifically, he's tried to heal what was a heated relationship between his predecessor, Jan Brewer, and officials south of the border, including Brewer's 2010 decision to sign SB 1070, designed to give state and local police more power to detain and arrest those believed to be in this country illegally.