WASHINGTON — Two or three times a week, truck driver Jesus Serrano hauls loads of Mexican-grown produce stored in warehouses just across the U.S.-Mexico border in Nogales, Ariz., to distribution centers in Los Angeles.
But Serrano plans to stop making the trip if Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signs into law a stringent anti-illegal immigration bill passed by the state legislature earlier this week, and he is recruiting other truckers to join him.
Serrano, the independent owner-operator of a Los Angeles-based trucking company, said about 70 drivers based in California and Arizona have agreed to stop moving loads into or out of Arizona if the law takes effect. He hopes to get 200 truckers on board for a five-day boycott that would start within 48 hours of the bill becoming law.
The bill would require police to check the immigration status of anyone they have “reasonable suspicion” to think might be in the country illegally. The Arizona Senate passed the measure Monday after the state House passed it last week. The governor has until the end of the day Saturday to sign the bill, veto it or allow it to become law unsigned.
As a U.S. citizen of Mexican descent, Serrano said he was disturbed when he heard last week that the Arizona House had passed the bill. He immediately began talking to other independent truckers who drive the Nogales to Los Angeles circuit, and they planned the boycott over CB radios, on cell phones and at truck stops, Serrano said.
“We’re Hispanic, we’re Mexican. We’ve been saying, ‘Are we going to be getting stopped on our way to the store when we’re walking to get lunch somewhere?’” Serrano said.
About 40 percent of the Mexican-grown produce consumed in North America comes in through Nogales, according to Amy Adams, a spokeswoman with the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas. Serrano said that a revolt among independent truckers would create significant backlogs in moving that produce out of Nogales warehouses.
Collin Stewart, chairman of the Arizona Trucking Association, had not heard of the boycott plans and said he would not expect what he described as a “CB radio revolt” by independent owner-operators to significantly impact distribution.
“I would not imagine there would be any kind of major reduction in the flow or volume of freight,” he said. “Usually these things are relegated to a small group of individuals. The immigration debate is a hot topic in Arizona right now, but it always is.”
On the other hand, Jaime Chamberlain, owner of two Nogales-based distribution businesses and incoming chairman of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, said a boycott by 70 truckers could have a significant impact on freight rates, which would translate into higher prices. He also thought the state would take an economic hit from lost sales revenue.
“If there are truckers who do feel that this is not a good bill and not a good law, and if they refuse to drive through the state of Arizona, that’s not good for Arizona, because every single one of these truckers spends money in our state,” he said.
Brewer’s office did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.
The Arizona bill has stirred a national debate, including among Arizona’s representatives in Congress. Republican Sen. John McCain publically supported the measure this week, while Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva decried the bill and called for businesses across the country to boycott Arizona if it becomes law.