Arizona Corporation Commissioner Lea Márquez Peterson wrote identical letters to United States Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and Martha McSally, R-Ariz., requesting they work with their colleagues to ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement as soon as possible.

Gov. Doug Ducey appointed Márquez Peterson to the Arizona Corporation Commission, which regulates public utilities statewide, in May 2019. She is the first Latina to serve in a statewide office in Arizona.

“As a member of the Arizona Corporation Commission, I have the unique opportunity to comment on the USMCA from the perspective of a public utility regulator and the utilities and utility customers we represent,� Márquez Peterson wrote in the letters.

“From this perspective, I see the USMCA as providing net benefits for all signatories in the areas of energy, water, and telecommunications policy, which complement and support our push for a cleaner and more interconnected economy.�

Márquez Peterson said she specifically supported the USMCA’s promotion of:

• Energy, including zero-tariff energy trade and the ability to share electricity across the border;
• Telecommunications, including full access to public and major suppliers’ networks;
• Electric vehicles, with incentives to encourage companies to build in Arizona;
• Utility infrastructure;
• Air quality, including enforcement of existing environmental laws to improve air quality in major metropolitan and rural areas across North America; and
• Water, including addressing land- and sea-based pollution, promoting waste management infrastructure and protecting Arizona’s natural water resources.

“As we begin to discuss building a more robust and interconnected regional grid in the west, we will necessarily need to consider how we connect and interact with our clean energy customers and suppliers on both sides of the Arizona-Sonora border,� Márquez Peterson said.

“More access to [electric] transmission infrastructure between these two partners will provide benefits and clean energy opportunities for everyone, while promotion of electric vehicles charging and production by manufacturers and suppliers will help both neighbors as they strive to achieve shared air quality goals across the region,� she said.

Before her appointment, Márquez Peterson served as president and CEO of the Tucson Hispanic Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ of Commerce for almost a decade. The U.S. Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ of Commerce recognized the Tucson Hispanic Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ as the “Hispanic Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ of the Yearâ€� in 2013, under Márquez Peterson’s leadership.

To view the letter to Sinema, .

To view the letter to McSally, .

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Arizona Senators Kyrsten Sinema (D) and Martha McSally (R) teamed up Tuesday to oppose the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency’s (CBP) decision to remove officers from Arizona’s ports of entry.

The CBP’s decision to transfer the personnel out of Arizona ports came after the agency saw its highest total number of daily apprehensions and encounters in over a decade twice in one week.

saw the highest total of apprehensions and encounters in over a decade on Monday, with 4,000 migrants either apprehended or encountered at ports of entry in a single day. Yesterday, that record was broken again—4,117 in a single day.

— CBP (@CBP)

“We understand the challenges that CBP faces with the recent influx of migrants to our border, and we both look forward to working with you to improve border security,â€� the senators wrote in a letter. “However, reducing port staffing harms security and our economy…Different options must be explored.â€�

The senators said the decision will harm the state’s ability to while significantly increasing port of entry wait times and encouraging illegal goods to enter the country.

“The cross-border commerce is so important for Arizona’s economy. We’ve got about 200,000 jobs that are related to cross-border commerce,� McSally said after a roundtable with CBP Monday morning. “It’s my view that we’ve got to keep the legitimate trade and travel and cross-border commerce , but we also need to secure our border and address this crisis.�

released earlier this month shows that Arizona’s trade with Mexico was more than $16 billion in 2018, a 7.7 percent increase from the previous year. The long wait times are expected to have a negative impact on the import of produce and other goods.

The senators also expressed concern with how the CBP’s decision would affect the safety of the country, as CBP officers at the ports help prevent narcotics and other illegal goods from entering the country.

Last year, 86 percent of hard narcotics seized by CBP were seized at ports of entry. In the Southwest, it was 82 percent.

The CBP’s announcement also comes amid President Donald Trump’s threat to shut down the U.S.-Mexico border altogether.

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