Lack of Staff Delays Goods Crossing at Nogales Port

Commercial trucks inspected at the Mariposa Port of Entry. (2015)

Fernanda Echavarri, AZPM

Listen:

The federal government spent $250 million on its expanded shipping port at Nogales, but officials have been unable to hire enough staff to keep all lanes open.

Customs and Border Protection received funding to hire 2,000 more officers for the ports of entry at Nogales, including the big Mariposa Port of Entry where trucks haul produce and other goods from Mexico's interior.

Fewer than half of those jobs have been filled.

The staffing shortage means that several lanes at Mariposa remain closed much of the time even as traffic backs up.

"It’s very hard to get the federal government to move," said Bruce Bracker, a Nogales businessman and treasurer of the Santa Cruz Port Authority. "It’s a staffing shortage at the ports of entry, and it’s hurting the economy of Arizona."

Members of Congress have been pressing Customs officials to increase the hiring rate. Last month, agency officials told Congress they were working to reduce the wait times for new hires.