ROCKY POINT, MEXICO — With the border closure at Lukeville almost at an end, many older Americans living in Rocky Point have been biding their time with their medication refills and doctor visits in the U.S.
Some have faced the prospect of driving hours and hours away through other points of entry to get their prescription deliveries at the Lukeville post office.
Elizabeth Sahagun says she runs supply and medical errands for about 50 senior citizens living in Rocky Point normally. But with the closure, she is having to take the long way around.
“Instead of being two hours, it takes 14 hours now,” said Sahagun.
Sahagun said she was planning a trip through San Luis Rio Colorado in Mexico to cross the border this week, then driving up to Gila Bend before heading down to Lukeville. It would take over six hours just one way.
“It’s further, but they say that’s the safest because there’s other things that are happening with cartels are going to fight,” said Robin Miller, an American who lives in Rocky Point.
Miller says besides safety concerns, the longer trips would be more costly for her. All her doctors are in Tucson; it is also where she gets her Medicare-covered prescriptions in person too.
For now, she has been buying lower-quality insulin in Mexico to stay healthy.
“I have to buy my medication here because I have more medication, and I just bought some about three weeks ago… over $700 out of my pocket,” said Miller.
Miller says this border closure has been worse for the area than the COVID-19 shutdowns in 2020. And for many who rely on the passage, the opening cannot come soon enough.
“Please, please get it open, it’ll probably be one of the most happiest days of my life. It’s like winning the lottery when the day that they open it,” said Sahagun.
