If you’re afraid to go to the border these days you’re not alone. But for a different perspective consider how it looks from the south going north.

There’s the cost. Just as we Americans can no longer use just any ID, Mexican nationals must get passports. Frequent travelers can enroll in the SENTRI (Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection) program but that costs $122 for a five-year card.

There’s the time. With the heightened security, you can never plan on how long you’ll spend waiting to get to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) inspection station. It’s not uncommon for vehicles to be backed up for 45 minutes or longer. 

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There’s the crime. The United States is not necessarily a safe place. Statistically crime rates in U.S. cities are higher than they are in Mexico’s cities. There are hot spots that spike crime rates in both countries but just like Americans, most Mexicans are more comfortable with the familiar. The U.S. is less familiar.

Put these together and just as we Arizonans can no longer make a spur-of-the-moment decision to go to dinner at La Roca in Nogales, Sonora, a Mexican can no longer pop across the border to shop here either.

A 2007-2008 study by the University of Arizona Eller College of Management calculated more than 65,000 people on an average day were coming across the border into Arizona. And they spent almost $7.3 million a day.

These days the streets of Nogales — on both sides of the border — are quieter. Between the Americans and the Mexicans who are no longer visiting Nogales, businesses in the border city are hurting. This year 40 businesses on both sides of Nogales — Ambos Nogales as it’s promoted — have closed and gone, according to Gael Pullen, who with her husband Mark, own three McDonald’s restaurants on the Arizona side.

As a gauge for just how important tourists from Mexico are, consider that the UA study found Mexican visitor spending represents a staggering 48.6 percent of the total taxable sales in Santa Cruz County.

One Saturday morning Pullen sent out an e-mail asking what could be done to help businesses that have felt the negative effects of what’s happened in Nogales. She said she got an almost immediate response that culminated in a Bi-National Business Leadership Economic Summit Aug. 24 at the Tubac Golf Resort. More than 300 business and political leaders were there, including Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, Sonora’s Secretario de Gobierno (secretary of commerce) Wenceslao Cota Montayo, CPB officials and state legislators.

A portion of the day was set aside as a working session in which those attending were free to speak off the record about their issues and concerns. One woman talked of having to “reinvent” her 37-year-old tourist oriented business into one for locals. There were debates as to what could be done to facilitate shoppers crossing the border. They also batted around how to address the image of the border as a dangerous place. 

Nobody in the room was quarreling over the need for security. Ironically though, the United States’ quest for national security has created an image that is unfairly costing these business leaders their financial security.

Contact David Hatfield at dhatfield@azbiz.com or (520) 295-4237.