Sen. Gallego says he wants more resources dedicated to ports of entry along Arizona-Mexico border

Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego says he wants to see more personnel and resources dedicated to ports of entry along the Arizona-Mexico border.

Around 100 people packed into a historic courthouse in downtown Nogales for a town hall event organized by Gallego just down the street from the DeConcini Port of Entry — a bustling trade hub that is soon set to undergo a long-awaited modernization project.

Gallego told reporters that although the port is now slated for an upgrade, he wants to see more attention put toward hiring customs officers to staff it.

“This administration is great about cutting through bureaucracy to hire all these ICE officers, they should use that type of urgency to hire these customs officers,” he said.

The federal government’s modernization plan for the Deconcini Port of Entry proposes to expand its footprint from 5 to 25 acres. As the Nogales International reports, the plan could eliminate historic buildings in the process.

Community members questioned Gallego about federal funding for small businesses, rural healthcare and other issues.

Jose Malki Higuera is the owner of a local Santa Cruz County business called M&M Family Orchard. He said his business was getting a few thousand dollars a year in federal funding to help sustain a program for children to learn about water and farming issues. That ended in June.

“We don’t have a lot of federal funds or any right now, and so, we know that it’s very difficult, very competitive to get funds, so we don’t completely rely on that,” he said.

Higuera says he came to the event to ask Gallego to advocate for that type of funding to be restored.