WHY, Ariz. (NewsNation Now) — About 27 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border crossing in Lukeville, Arizona, is the town of Why — a tight-knit community that relies on border traffic to sustain itself.
The name Why wasn’t town founders’ first choice. They hoped to name their city after the Y-shaped intersection that formed where the two main highways connect, but state law at the time required all town names to have at least three letters. Thus, Why was born.
The town’s positioning along the southern border occasionally brings migrants through the area, but they usually pass through, vacationer Pat Kendall said.
“They’re not staying here. There are no jobs here,” she said. “They wouldn’t be able to exist. … The communities here don’t have the funds to help them.”
For many, Why is a liminal space — a place to pass through or stay only temporarily. But for those who live in Why full-time, it’s easy to feel forgotten, lifelong resident Josh Hood said.
“I’ve met Arizonans who went ‘where’s Why?’ and they’ve gone through it to go to Mexico. And if you look at some of our roads, there are potholes bigger than that one,” Hood said, gesturing to a large pothole in the dirt road that cuts through the Coyote Howls RV Park. “It’s fairly easy to see that in some ways we’ve been forgotten completely.”
Along the border’s nearly 2,000 miles, there are hundreds of towns like Why that rely on border crossings to sustain themselves. The U.S.-Mexico border is the most traversed in the world with more than 300 million legal crossings each year.
“It’s pretty crazy here,” said local employee Chris Villarreal said. “Cars come through all the time.”
Villarreal contributes to some of that traffic, commuting each day from Mexico to Why, where he manages the gas station outside the Why Not Travel Store. It’s one of the two main businesses in town, selling snacks, jewelry and Mexican insurance.
The trip is worth it for Villarreal, whose wife lives in Mexico. Plus the cost of living is cheaper for him there, he said.
“It’s pretty nice working over here and living over there,” Villarreal said.
Traffic through Why from Mexico was more frequent before construction on the border wall began under the Trump administration, resident Anthony Bevens said.
“Before they build the wall I would see them coming through here all the time because the destination would be the border patrol station to turn themselves in,” Bevens said. “Since the wall has gone up we haven’t really seen that much.”
Why’s close proximity to protected and indigenous lands also limits its ability to expand, Hood said, though he doesn’t mind things the way they are.
“I like that I can walk from one side of Why to the other in an hour. And even if I didn’t, it can’t grow,” he said.
Why has its own unique attractions: a combination gas station and casino, and the city’s only sit-down restaurant, Granny’s Kitchen, which is open for breakfast and lunch only.
But the real appeal of Why is its perceived autonomy from the rest of the world, said Bevens.
“It’s rural without being horribly rural. … We’re reasonably close to modern amenities without being inside of it.”
Read all of NewsNation’s border coverage here.