After Nearly A Year Of Restrictions, Arizona Ports End 2020 With Big Crossing Drops

By Murphy Woodhouse
Published: Tuesday, January 26, 2021 - 7:58am

Border Wait Nogales
Murphy Woodhouse/KJZZ
Motorists wait to cross at the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry in Nogales, Sonora, in February 2019. Since the U.S. implemented restrictions at the border on March, 20, 2020, fewer people have been crossing.

After nearly a full year of restrictions, crossings through Arizona ports of entry in 2020 were down significantly from 2019, according to recently released federal data.

Last year, 3.9 million pedestrians and 9.5 million people in cars crossed into Arizona from Mexico. While those are big numbers, they represent drops of roughly 45% and 42% from 2019, thanks in large part to restrictions on nonessential trips that went into effect in March. Truck traffic, which hasn’t been impacted by the restrictions, was up slightly.

In April, pedestrian and passenger crossings reached a year-over-year low point, and were both down about 70%. Since then monthly pedestrian crossings have never been more than half of the previous year’s figure.

Passengers, however, rose through October and ended the year at 56% of December 2019’s figure.

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