Customs hopes port delays will be minimal over 4th weekend

TUCSON - Customs spokesmen say they'll be doing their best to keep delays to a minimum for holiday weekend travelers returning from Mexico through Arizona's ports, but some backups are likely.

And the delays probably won't be because people aren't complying with new, stricter identification requirements - because most are.

Rather, it's a three-day holiday weekend. It's that simple.

"If I were to hazard a guess, I would say it's going to be pretty busy all weekend," said Brian Levin, U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman at the Nogales ports of entry.

"Normally, we see an increase on weekends for tourism anyway, so if you add in holiday traffic, I would expect to see an increase on Friday and Saturday."

A year ago, traffic through Nogales' two ports peaked on Thursday, July 3, at just under 8,800 vehicles, Levin said.

About 115 miles west of Nogales, the port at Lukeville serves as the gateway for travelers from Phoenix and Tucson heading for Puerto Penasco, or Rocky Point. "During the week at Lukeville, we might see 800 or 900 vehicles," Levin said. "On a holiday, we can see 5,000 to 6,000 vehicles come through" - resulting in 1½-to 2-hour waits for northbound traffic.

The dramatic difference between normal weekday and holiday traffic through Lukeville explains why there are significant delays, he added. But the improvement in reducing those waits also has been dramatic.

"Three years ago, we had an eight-hour delay on Memorial Day, and we've cut that down to two hours," Levin said.

Friday is officially the start of the July Fourth weekend, although some people left for destinations across the border on Thursday. "At all of our ports of entry, we expect to see an increase in volume of traffic this weekend," Levin added. Both at Lukeville and San Luis, south of Yuma, where people return from points along the Gulf of California, the heaviest traffic will come Sunday and Monday.

Customs officials don't regularly monitor traffic going into Mexico, focusing instead on people coming into the United States. But they're trying to make sure travelers carry one of the documents required since June 1, when the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative took effect, to make the re-entry process quicker and smoother.

U.S. citizens must show a passport card, passport, enhanced driver's license or be a member of the government's trusted traveler programs for frequent business travelers.

"There has been an above-90 percent compliance rate from the get-go," Levin said. That's echoed at the San Luis port of entry.

"I would venture to say it's in the high 90s," Customs spokeswoman Teresa Small said. "We're thankful that people have been compliant and urge those who have not been to just get on the bandwagon" and apply for the proper documents. But officials said American citizens without the documentation aren't and won't be turned away for now.

CBP's Web site carries port delays. In Nogales, an AM radio low-frequency transmitter provides travel advisories and delays and related information on a recurring loop.

And along U.S. 95 between Gadsden and San Luis, a highway billboard advises citizens to have their documents before they leave the country.