Trump's border closure would cause 'severe economic harm': U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Politicians, business leaders and economists warned that such a move would block incoming shipments of fruits and vegetables, TVs, medical devices and other products and cut off people who commute to their jobs or school or come across to go shopping.
Trump brought up the possibility of closing ports of entry along the southern border Friday and revisited it in tweets over the weekend because of a surge of Central Americans migrants who are seeking asylum. Trump administration officials have said the influx is straining the immigration system to the breaking point.
More than 60 percent of all Mexican winter produce consumed in the U.S. crosses into the country at Nogales, Arizona. The winter produce season is especially heavy right now, with the import of Mexican-grown watermelons, grapes and squash, said Lance Jungmeyer, president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas.
"If this happens — and I certainly hope it doesn't — I'd hate to go into a grocery store four or five days later and see what it looks like," Jungmeyer said. "Our business would end," said Marta Salas, an employee at an El Paso shop near the border that sells plastic flowers that are used on the Mexican side by families holding quinceañeras, the traditional coming-of-age celebrations.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration said Monday as many as 2,000 U.S. inspectors who screen cargo and vehicles at ports of entry along the Mexican border may be reassigned to help handle the surge of migrants. Currently, about 750 inspectors are being reassigned.The effects were evident Monday: Sergio Amaya, a 24-year-old American citizen who lives in Juarez, Mexico, and attends UTEP, said it normally takes him two minutes to cross the bridge. It took an hour this time.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
O'Rourke holds rally in El Paso as Trump threatens to shut Mexican borderDemocratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke plans to hold a major rally in El Paso, Texas on Saturday.
Read more »
Migrants being held in Texas enclosure as surge overwhelms El PasoHundreds of migrants are being held in a chain-link enclosure in El Paso, Texas,...
Read more »
Beto O'Rourke formally kicks off his 2020 presidential campaign miles from embattled El Paso, Texas border'For too long in this country, the powerful have maintained their privilege at the expense of the powerless,' O'Rourke said.
Read more »
Beto O'Rourke rallies in Texas kick-off in El Paso, blocks from US-Mexico borderBeto O'Rourke's presidential campaign rally in El Paso, blocks from the U.S.-Mexico border, challenged President Donald Trump's immigration policies.
Read more »
Border Patrol struggles with surge of migrants in El Paso, TexasCustoms and Border Protection officials said Border Patrol is holding immigrants in a makeshift cell, a chain-link enclosure under a bridge in El Paso, Texas, because they can’t keep up with screening the hundreds of immigrants coming to the border daily.
Read more »
Beto O'Rourke holds a kickoff rally in El PasoEL PASO, TEXAS, USA - Former three-term Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke, who attracted a national following when he mounted a quixotic Senate bid against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz, holds a kickoff rally for his 2020 campaign in El Paso, Texas.
Read more »
El Paso migrant holding pen “looks like a concentration camp” says Women's March spokespersonImmigration advocates have sounded the alarm over “inhumane and inexcusable” treatment of asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Read more »