Yuma, Ariz. – Yuma Mayor Al Krieger was among the mayors of more than 20 U.S.-Mexico border cities in attendance at the fourth bi-national meeting of the U.S.-Mexico Border Mayors Association, held May 24 in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Primary themes of the conference included improving the flow of commercial traffic along the border, and reducing border crossing times for both commercial and individual travel. “This particular meeting addressed border infrastructure,” Mayor Krieger said. The issue of handling deportees with criminal backgrounds also generated substantial discussion during the conference. Noting he was the only Arizona mayor in attendance, Krieger emphasized that many border communities have similar issues, and talking about them together helps provide solutions both through sharing common experiences and through more effective lobbying efforts. “It’s really important for border mayors to get together to analyze and discuss some of the same issues that all of the border mayors have to deal with,” Mayor Krieger said. But it’s also important for those same mayors to bond together and speak with a unified voice to handle issues unique to one of the border areas to help get the attention and support of the federal government, he added. “In Nogales, they have a sewage problem coming from Mexico that’s unique to that area. They need the support of the other border mayors to bring this forward to help them so they’re simply not standing alone,” Krieger said. “It’s important to have some representation to demonstrate to the Mexican mayors that all of these issues are not just ‘our’ problem or ‘their’ problem,” he added. “Collectively we can advocate to our federal governments to help us be good neighbors and help us work through these issues.” Having each individual city or border area lobby Congress or federal agencies individually has proved ineffective, Krieger noted. “Washington has to understand what the issues are very clearly. And that’s what the purpose of this conference is.”
Posted on: Sun, 07 Jul 2013 02:12:48 +0000
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