Crossing borders and state boundaries during the pandemic.

Living and working close to an international border adds little complications to life. Even though I don’t cross the border regularly, I'm always aware that it’s there. If I need to go across town, depending on the time of day, I’ll avoid certain areas knowing that traffic will be heavy with people coming or going across the border. If I want to cross the border, I have to consider when I plan to return, knowing that crossing times from Mexico into the United States can take up to a couple of hours depending on the time of day. The little complications are well worth it, but as a result, the border is always part of my consciousness.

The same can’t be said for the other borders that I cross daily. I live in Las Cruces, New Mexico, work in Santa Teresa, New Mexico and have a fiancé who resides in El Paso, Texas. The New Mexico/Texas state line in this area meanders along  the Rio Grande but the interstates are built as straight as possible, so travel between any of these destinations involves crossing state lines. Except for a road sign here or there, you never notice the change and on a daily commute, those signs end up fading into the scenery. The rare times I am reminded of differences between these communities are when I get pulled over in in Texas because of its higher speeding fines and during tax season, when I remember Texas doesn’t have a state income tax like New Mexico. 

On March 11, 2020, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a public health emergency due to the pandemic. Over the course of a week and a half, Governor Lujan Grisham would amend the public health order several times, each time tightening the restrictions. Finally, on March 23, New Mexico was under a stay-at-home order for non-essential workers. I was reminded then that, like the international border, these domestic borders can have a real impact on the people who travel between them.

Texas Governor Greg Abbot declared a public health emergency on March 13, two days after New Mexico. Texas’s declaration gave localities the ability to set their own restrictions with regards to the health crisis. Over the next week and a half, El Paso County would incrementally increase restrictions until on March 24, El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego would place a stay-at-home order on El Paso County for non-essential workers.

The timing and variations in the ever-changing public health orders made for some confusion, at least initially. When New Mexico ordered non-essential workers to stay at home, did this include New Mexican’s who worked in El Paso, Texas? Or did El Paso employers still expect their New Mexico employees to show up to work? What if those employees had to stay home to take care of children because schools in New Mexico were closed? Could those employees face repercussions at work because their place of employment wasn’t in New Mexico? Once the stay-at-home order was enacted in El Paso, did it recognize essential jobs in New Mexico? Or would an El Pasoan traveling to their essential job in New Mexico be at risk of a fine if they got pulled over in El Paso? Suddenly, the borders we don’t normally think about could potentially have a large impact on the lives of us who crossed them regularly.

Over the next few days, some frantically written emails and phone calls resulted in some answers. Although the public orders in both New Mexico and El Paso County didn’t envision the types of situations above, the enforcement of those orders was flexible enough that employees and employers in our region didn’t need to worry. The fast pace at which both governments were trying to address the public health crisis was a reminder that there is more than just one border within our region that impacts our lives. Which side you live or work on has an impact on your life. But just like we’ve adapted to living next to an international border, we’ve also found ways to adjust to the little complications these other borders add to life as well.