Asylum Seekers’ Rights Denied and Border Communities Disrupted: Ethnographic Accounts on the 2023 Border Closure in Lukeville, Arizona

Brittany Romanello, Gustavo Sanchez-Bachman () and Jesus Orozco ()
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Brittany Romanello: Sociology and Criminology Department, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA
Gustavo Sanchez-Bachman: Anthropology Department, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA
Jesus Orozco: T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA

Social Sciences, 2025, vol. 14, issue 10, 1-19

Abstract: This paper examines the humanitarian, social, and economic disruptions resulting from the 2023–2024 closure of the Lukeville, Arizona, Port of Entry (PoE). Drawing on collaborative ethnographic fieldwork, including semi-structured and informal interviews, observation, and participation in local community events, we examine how a rural, unincorporated community handled a historic border closure. Further, we analyze how the closure impacted migrants, especially asylum seekers, who were excluded from protection due to bureaucratic and discretionary decision-making. The closure not only disrupted asylum access but also humanitarian aid networks, local economies, cross-border families, and Indigenous sovereignty, producing a geography of sanctioned neglect. These findings demonstrate how federal enforcement decisions, often made without considering borderland communities’ realities, frequently lead to their further destabilization while these areas are already navigating structural abandonment. We conclude with recommendations emphasizing harm reduction and preparation practices to mitigate future disruptions.

Keywords: Lukeville; Arizona; border economies; border militarization; immigration policy; migrant social rights (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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