This week, Power Courier goes deep on what matters most right now. Tariffs are redirecting trade and the border corridor is positioned to win. The USMCA review is open and the clock is running. An EB-5 deadline five months away is creating the most important investment moment in a decade, anchored by a national security project in Yuma that could end America's dependence on Chinese cobalt. A cartel casino was operating two miles from our busiest land port. Last night, a gunman opened fire at the White House Correspondents' Dinner and the moment demands leaders, not politicians. And this weekend in Phoenix, 150 young lives are about to change on a basketball court and we need your help to make it happen.

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The numbers coming out of North America's customs agencies this month are telling a story that most headlines are missing. Tariffs are not stopping trade. They are redirecting it, and the border region is sitting right in the middle of that shift.

New data shows that Mexico's customs revenue fell for the second consecutive month even as trade volumes stayed relatively stable. The biggest drop came from VAT collected on imports, down 22.6%, while import duty revenue fell 7%. That suggests the taxable value of imports is declining, a trend often seen when companies shift sourcing strategies, reclassify goods, or route freight differently to reduce tariff exposure. In plain terms: companies are getting smarter, not backing down.

This matters enormously for border businesses and for the case I have been making for years at Intermestic Partners. Smart supply chain diversification is not a threat to North American trade. It is the next phase of it. When companies restructure to reduce tariff exposure, they are often moving production closer to the U.S. market, which means more activity, more jobs, and more investment flowing into the border corridor.

The USMCA review that formally began in March is now the central arena. The U.S. and Mexico are each other's largest trading partners, and much of their trade consists of intermediate components that cross the border multiple times in complex manufacturing supply chains. Any renegotiation that ignores this deep integration is renegotiating blind.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has called USMCA "bad industrial policy," saying it needs to be reconsidered. I disagree. What needs reconsidering is how we use this review to build a smarter, stronger agreement that deepens North American manufacturing, protects border businesses, and positions the Phoenix to Nogales corridor as the semiconductor and advanced manufacturing spine of this continent. The window is open. The question is whether we walk through it with vision or squander it with short-term thinking.

There is a window closing that not enough people are talking about. EB-5 is having its most important year in a decade, and the investors paying attention right now are the ones who will be positioned when the door shuts.

The EB-5 program is reauthorized only through September 30, 2027. Cases filed before September 30, 2026 will be grandfathered, likely leading to a surge in filings. That deadline is not an abstraction. It is a hard clock, and we are inside the final window.

What I find most compelling about this moment is not just the timing. It is who is showing up. While China and India remain major contributors to EB-5 demand, 2026 is seeing diversification, with Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East emerging as growth engines for EB-5 interest. Latin American investors are arriving with capital, with urgency, and with a clear preference for projects that connect to real infrastructure and real national security value.

This is where the conversation gets serious for Arizona. Consider what is being built right now in Yuma County. EVelution Energy is developing the first solar-powered, carbon-neutral cobalt processing facility in the United States. Right now, more than 75% of the world's refined cobalt is produced in China. There is not a single commercial-scale cobalt processing facility on American soil. The EVelution project, when fully operational, is expected to produce up to 40% of projected U.S. cobalt demand, supplying aerospace, defense, and EV battery manufacturers who cannot afford to keep depending on a Chinese supply chain.

This is what national security investment actually looks like on the ground. Not a talking point. A facility. Jobs. A domestic supply chain being built in rural Arizona with bipartisan support from Governor Hobbs and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle. Intermestic Capital is proud to be part of making it happen through our EB-5 fund. That is the kind of opportunity that does not come around often, and the clock is running.

Two weeks ago, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned six targets connected to Cartel del Noreste, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization that has turned Nuevo Laredo into a chokepoint for fentanyl trafficking and money laundering. One of the CDN-affiliated casinos targeted is located just two miles from the U.S. border, operating in open view of the Laredo port of entry, the busiest land crossing on the southern border.

Let that sink in. A casino linked to a designated terrorist cartel was operating within sight of one of our most critical trade gateways. This is not a distant national security problem. It is a border infrastructure problem, and it demands the kind of serious, sustained response that financial sanctions alone cannot deliver.

I want to be direct here, as someone who managed a 13 billion dollar budget and led 60,000 personnel at U.S. Customs and Border Protection: sanctions are a tool, not a strategy. They disrupt. They do not dismantle. What dismantles cartel operations is sustained intelligence sharing, hardened port infrastructure, adequate staffing, and a binational security framework that holds both governments accountable.

Mexico has surged 10,000 National Guard troops to the shared border, achieved major fentanyl and precursor chemical seizures, and transferred 29 high-value targets including major cartel figures to U.S. custody. That is progress. It needs to be acknowledged. But it also needs to be institutionalized, not simply credited as a diplomatic win and set aside when the pressure eases.

The fentanyl crisis is also revealing something important about our ports. More than 90% of interdicted fentanyl is stopped at ports of entry, where cartels attempt to smuggle it primarily in vehicles driven by U.S. citizens. Our ports are our front line. They need investment, technology, and personnel to match that reality.

I grew up in Nogales watching kids on both sides of the fence find each other through sports. Soccer fields don't ask for passports. Basketball courts don't check country of origin. That is the power I have always believed in, and it is the power we are bringing to the Valley this weekend.

On May 2 and 3, we are hosting a binational youth basketball clinic in Phoenix in partnership with the Carlos Slim Foundation Acceso Latino program, ESPN Take Back Sports, Boys and Girls Club of the Valley, Chicanos por la Causa, the Jason Kidd Foundation, and the Phoenix Suns. This is not just a basketball event. It is a statement about what border communities can build when we invest in our young people with the same energy we invest in trade deals and policy debates.

The young people coming through those doors this weekend represent the 40 million Mexican-connected residents in the United States. They are the future of this binational community, and they deserve world-class programming, world-class partners, and the message that their heritage is a strength, not an obstacle.

If you have a young athlete in your life between the ages of 8 and 18, get them registered now. Spots are limited and this is the kind of experience that stays with a kid for life. View the clinic flyer and register here.

If you are a business, a brand, or an individual who believes in what this clinic represents, sponsorship opportunities are still available. Your investment goes directly into programming that changes lives and builds real binational community. View sponsorship opportunities here.

This is the work. Come be part of it.

Saturday night, a gunman breached the security perimeter of the White House Correspondents' Dinner at the Washington Hilton and opened fire. President Trump, the First Lady, Vice President Vance, and members of the Cabinet were evacuated. One law enforcement officer was struck in a bullet-resistant vest and is expected to recover. The suspect is in custody.

I will say this plainly: political violence is never the answer. Full stop. Regardless of where you stand, this kind of act threatens not just the individuals in that room but the fabric of democratic life itself.

The politicians I want to lift up right now are the ones responding with clarity and calm. Who condemn violence unequivocally. Who do not exploit tragedy for talking points. That standard is not partisan. It is the floor of leadership.

Thanks for reading this edition of my newsletter! I'd love to hear from you. Share your thoughts about what you think are the most critical issues that need to be addressed. Email me at [email protected] or connect with me on social media using the hashtag #Intermestic.

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