Arizona border crossing with Mexico to reopen a month after migrant influx forced closure

FILE - Footsteps are seen along a road shadowed by the steel columns of the border wall separating Arizona and Mexico, Friday, Dec. 15, 2023, near Lukeville, Ariz. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

LUKEVILLE, Ariz. — A border crossing on the most direct route from Phoenix to the nearest beaches will reopen Thursday, authorities said, one month after it closed in response to a large migrant influx.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it was also reopening a pedestrian border crossing in San Diego on Thursday and resuming full operations at a bridge in Eagle Pass, Texas, and a crossing in Nogales, Arizona.

The moves reflect a drop in illegal crossings from December highs, authorities said. Troy Miller, acting CBP commissioner, said last month that crossings had reached "unprecedented" heights, topping 10,000 on several days.

The Lukeville closure on Dec. 4 brought heavy pressure on CBP from Arizona's top elected officials. While remote, it is used to travel to Puerto Penasco, or Rocky Point, a resort area on Mexico's Sea of Cortez. Americans also visit the border community of Sonoyta to eat, shop and get dental and medical care.

Cargo rail crossings in the Texas border cities of Eagle Pass and El Paso closed for five days last month in what U.S. authorities said was a response to large numbers of migrants riding freight trains through Mexico to the U.S. border. Businesses complained of major economic losses.

Lukeville and other crossings closed because CBP said it needed to reassign officials to processing migrants.