‘We weren’t invited’
Some area officials not included in Trump visit
Yuma County officials would have welcomed the chance to meet with President Trump Tuesday to discuss the topics of border security and long traffic lines at the port of entry into San Luis.
But they missed out on that opportunity as Trump made a brief stop at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma.
The president stayed long enough to greet Yuma Marines and their families and to meet with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials at the CBP hangar at the airport. He did not speak to reporters or make a speech during his visit.
San Luis, Ariz., Mayor Gerardo Sanchez and other elected officials from the south county said they were understanding that the issue of border security had brought Trump to Yuma. And if that indeed was the reason for his visit, they’re not happy about not getting the chance to speak to him.
“At least out of respect we would have hoped for an invitation” to meet with the president, San Luis Mayor Gerardo Sanchez said. “If he came to talk (to local officials) about that issue, even if it was just about border security, we should have been present” for Trump’s visit with local officials. “The border is at San Luis, not in Yuma.”
“There was a big lack of information,” Sanchez added. “We didn’t know the details of his agenda. That only makes us see the great division between the federal government and other levels (of government). There’s no dialogue. But we should have it, even if we think differently about how to do things.”
San Luis City Councilman Matias Rosales said he would have liked the opportunity to appeal to the president for his support in securing federal funding to expand San Luis I, the port of entry into the Arizona border city.
“We weren’t invited,” San Luis City Councilman Matias Rosales said. “In fact, I found out about the visit on Facebook. But I would like to think that he at least flew over the border and saw what the ports of entry are like.”
The General Services Administration, the agency that oversees construction and maintenance of federal buildings, has included San Luis in its five-year plan for upgrades to ports on the U.S.-Mexico border. But any new port construction at San Luis is subject to approval of funding by Congress.
The Arizona border city’s economy is largely dependent on Mexican consumers who cross the border to shop, and San Luis officials say long wait times to cross the border are causing the shoppers to think twice about visiting.
Somerton Mayor Jose Yepez likewise said elected officials from the south county should have been included in any discussions Trump had during his visit.
“If he brought up the issue for the border, including security, I believe he should have invited at least the elected officials of San Luis,” Yepez. “We (in Somerton) are not as close (to the border) but they are, and I think it would have been good for the president to have their points of view.”
Yepez said his understanding was that Trump was going to discuss border security with local officials. “But we don’t even know in detail what the reason was for his visit. I hope that it was something that was constructive, because there are many needs in the region, and the issue of the port of entry is something that is very important right now.”