NOGALES — La Cinderella has sat close to the global border between the United States and Mexico for almost 80 years.
The keep is hard to miss. The beautiful painting of Evelia Kory, the woman who started it all, decorates the see coming over from the road’s port of entry, and the sparkling boots and sequined bow beauty in the shop windows.
Two storefronts owned by the same household have a client base that is largely made up of people living in Nogales in Sonora, Mexico, right across the street.
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NPR/Keren Carrión
” We value the fact that we are two countries that are combined, and we thrive because of that”, said Evan Kory, granddaughter of Evelia and now one of the masters of both La Cinderella and Kory’s marital store down the street. We’ve been empty for 77 times. So we’ve seen decades of customers who have purchased their dresses at our bridal shop: the mother, the family, and the daughter.
By being right along the frontier, and just a few feet away from the Nogales port of entry, Kory and his family have seen the relevance of frontier politics play out at their door.
They recall the time before the September 11, 2001 attacks, when Hispanic citizens could easily cross over to buy groceries or use their stores. They recall the COVID-19 epidemic that completely destroyed their company’s revenue caused by the borders to completely shut down. Therefore, in December 2023, when the Biden presidency closed the Lukeville port in Arizona due to staffing, Kory and his family feared that Nogales may be next. Additionally, faithful customers perhaps wait 3 hours to explore La Cinderella because of uneven border wait times.
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NPR/Keren Carrión
” I believe that the federal government needs to acknowledge that this intergovernmental way of life is essential,” Kory said. “…” It’s frustrating that there’s a lot of arguing back and forth and very little activity and planning”.
Immigration has come to be a hot topic of conversation among the two leading presidential hopefuls. While previous President Donald Trump has painted a grim picture of the pressure at the southern border, President Biden has spent the last few decades advocating for a tougher stance on border security.
Both individuals need Arizona’s joy this fall. The boundary swing position, which helped Trump succeed in 2016, gave Biden about 10,000 votes in 2020. Even so, citizens in the areas most affected by the language and policies feel left out by both political parties, and they worry that an election year will only faze any prospects for long-term solutions for their cities and the people who want to succeed.
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NPR/Keren Carrión
The stress is growing.
From Kory’s shop, he has witnessed a rise in hospital seekers transiting the Nogales slot over the past few months, making it a more recent problem for Arizona, a condition where border politics and immigration have always been in the forefront.
To begin the season, Arizona’s Tucson field became the busiest area for Border Patrol encounters. The bridges are putting stress on Pima County authorities, who have collaborated with the city of Tucson and then-governmental business Casa Alitas to provide sanctuary for asylum applicants from Pima, Santa Cruz, and Cochise regions until they can fulfill their partners.
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” They’re fleeing from something that is dangerous and dreadful. And we must show kindness for that. We must also be accountable for the tools we have in the areas along the border, according to Rob Elias, chairman of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. ” To pleasant these workers and these asylum seekers in — it takes assets, it takes money”.
Tucson received$ 12 billion in funding from a system launched by the Trump presidency to assist immigrants who were displaced in July of last year. That income was scheduled to expire on March 31, leading to concerns about so-called” city releases” of asylum applicants brought in by Customs and Border Patrol across all three regions as soon as April 1 and warnings about layoffs at nearby hiding nonprofits.
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NPR/Keren Carrión
Washington lawmakers approved$ 650 million to restock FEMA’s program in an 11th-hour save. According to officials in Pama County, the Homeland Security Department has provided enough “assurances” to make it clear that the county will receive at least$ 12 million, but that funding has not yet been distributed and that this amount has been capped at three months. Democratic officials in Pima County and the city of Tucson have vowed they will not use their general government funds to stave off any potential lapse in federal funds.
Mayor of Tucson Regina Romero stated that Congress will have less money available for cities across the country to handle the responsibility that should be a federal responsibility. So “poking more money… into this particular issue of having to deal with asylum seekers in cities and towns throughout the country in a humane way is not going to do the job,” he said.
Residents do not want the border” shut”
There is little hope that there will be a solution from party leaders in an election year. After Senate Republicans ‘ bipartisan immigration agreement failed, community leaders began to retaliate against Trump.
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NPR/Keren Carrión
We have a Republican presidential candidate who said,” Do n’t solve this problem for Joe Biden. He views this as a problem that can be resolved, according to Santa Cruz County supervisor Bruce Bracker. ” But at the end of the day, the people who we elect, we expect them to do their jobs today not to wait for 6 months to do their jobs”.
Others are offended by the Biden administration’s ongoing staff restructuring, which resulted in the decision to close the Lukeville port and the president’s expanded use of parole.
The call to” shut down” the border is one political talking point that has gradually become more bipartisan and does n’t resonate with border communities.
” I think that statement is one of the statements that bothers us the most. Are you crazy when politicians say,” We’re going to shut down the border,” we’re like? Jaime Chamberlain, a board member of the Nogales Economic Development Foundation, said:” You ca n’t shut down the border with$ 700 billion worth of cross-border business that we do with Mexico in the United States. ” They’re using that statement when they should be saying,’ We need to fix our immigration issue.’ However, they advise reducing border security. You ca n’t” shut down the border”!
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NPR/Keren Carrión
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Chamberlain emphasized that this goes beyond partisan politics; it is up to the federal government to address the issues that small rural communities have faced.
” As if the border itself was the problem. Our country values us. We’re not a problem, Chamberlain asserted. ” Immigration policies are problems that have become our problem by inertia”.
Chamberlain, Bracker, and others want more assistance and support for border communities and organizations that manage the flow of migration, such as Casa Alitas, and they want a solution that extends beyond just months at a time.
What occurs when the funds run out?
Largely with the support of FEMA funds, Casa Alitas has opened multiple migrant shelters, including converting a former call center in Tucson that now beds up to 400 asylum seekers from all over the world.
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NPR/Keren Carrión
Diego Pia Lopez, the director of Casa Alitas ‘ asylum seekers program, said,” I know more about geography now than I did when I was in high school.” ” We spent through the funding a lot faster than we planned. And having a set bucket to allocate to versus acknowledging that ebb and flows happen for everyone across the border is one of the challenges.
The asylum seekers rarely stay in Tucson for very long, often only 6 to 72 hours before arriving at an airport or other mode of transportation to meet their sponsors. Casa Alitas boasts of having a full- service operation to help those arriving get new clothing, some food to eat and medical care. On occasion, Casa Alitas can assist in the purchase of airline tickets.
However, Casa Alitas staff and volunteers made plans for a potential decrease in funding during the month of March. Out of 60 employees, less than 20 prepared to keep their jobs in April. Staff changed their minds to give the shelter’s residents Ramen noodles to lower food costs.
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NPR/Keren Carrión
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Who will be there to assist them in their time of need, according to “my concern” as we see the street releases coming through? Piña Lopez said. Many people may find themselves in homeless shelters, but those shelters do n’t have the same level of experience with case management as we do.
Pia Lopez said it’s a plus that Border Patrol wo n’t know when people will be released into communities.
” Last night we were looking at a newborn being released with their mother late at night. Our staff allegedly arrives at 8 [p. m .],” Pia Lopez said. How can someone go off of work, clock out, and then see a newborn left on the streets?
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In order to fill the gaps and ensure that those who are released by Border Patrol are not then extorted and taken somewhere other than their intended final destination, Casa Alitas has tapped the services of other local businesses in port towns like Nogales and Douglas.
One of the businesses stepping in to help is Transporte Directo, a shuttle service right on the edge of the southern border in Douglas.
” We give the service to whoever needs it, we do n’t discriminate,” Transporte Directo’s Flor Martinez stated to NPR in Spanish. She has set up her drivers to take people to Casa Alitas and a nearby church, which is also a shelter, during her year working there.
Where Trump and Biden fit in
Martinez claimed that she hears from those who oppose Biden’s reelection “precisely because he has prioritized the immigration of people.”
” They want another person, whether it is Donald Trump or someone else,” Martinez said, adding that she is a resident and that she does n’t have a personal opinion without the right to vote.
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NPR/Keren Carrión
However, one of her drivers has a different perspective.
Moises Jimarez, a lifelong Democrat who has helped bring the migrants to Tucson, said,” You have to vote for Biden. Speaking in Spanish, he focused on the dozens of state and federal charges against the former president”. How is it possible for a criminal to serve as president?
Tucson is a destination for the frustrations caused by the politicization of the immigration debate. Rob Elias, president of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said he is both concerned by rhetoric of prejudice coming from GOP leaders and wishes more was done to recognize the strain placed on local communities needing to care for those incoming.
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NPR/Keren Carrión
” We are highly aware that the divisive language that former President Trump has used around border issues can be very detrimental to our way of life here,” Elias said. However, he wants to see more from Democrats and Biden. It is her job to secure that border, which the governor, Katie Hobbs, is aware of if the Biden administration does not act. And that’s been frustrating.”
If Trump wins in November, he has pledged to reinstate and expand some of his most contentious policies, including” the largest deportation operation in history” and expanding detention facilities. Trump has stated that he wants to grant local law enforcement and the National Guard the authority to detain and deport undocumented immigrants.
For his part, Biden has argued it is Congress that needs to act to fully change the state of immigration. Biden negotiated the now-stalled bill with senators to push for a tougher stance on border control. It would have increased detention facilities, increased immigration laws, and provided more money for border agents ‘ hiring.
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NPR/Keren Carrión
But the conversation is n’t going away anytime soon — regardless of who wins the presidency.
We’ll have to wait and see what November brings. ” Elias said,” Life will continue regardless of who it is.” And we still have to continue to make the communities that we live in, the communities that we play in, the community that we work in, the best that they possibly can be, regardless of who is sitting in the Oval Office.”
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