{"id":207681,"date":"2019-03-30T00:53:45","date_gmt":"2019-03-30T04:53:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=207681"},"modified":"2019-03-30T00:53:45","modified_gmt":"2019-03-30T04:53:45","slug":"trump-threatens-to-shut-mexico-border-not-kidding-around","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/03\/30\/trump-threatens-to-shut-mexico-border-not-kidding-around\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump threatens to shut Mexico border ‘not kidding around’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cIt could mean all trade\u201d with Mexico, Trump said when questioned by reporters in Florida. \u201cWe will close it for a long time.\u201d (Pixabay Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PALM BEACH, Fla. \u2013 Threatening drastic action against Mexico, President Donald Trump declared on Friday he is likely to shut down America’s southern border next week unless Mexican authorities immediately halt all illegal immigration. Such a severe move could hit the economies of both countries, but the president emphasized, \u201cI am not kidding around.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could mean all trade\u201d with Mexico, Trump said when questioned by reporters in Florida. \u201cWe will close it for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump has been promising for more than two years to build a long, impenetrable wall along the border to stop illegal immigration, though Congress has been reluctant to provide the money he needs. In the meantime, he has repeatedly threatened to close the border, but this time, with a new surge of migrants heading north , he gave a definite timetable.<\/p>\n

A substantial closure could have an especially heavy impact on cross-border communities from San Diego to South Texas, as well as supermarkets that sell Mexican produce, factories that rely on imported parts, and other businesses across the U.S.<\/p>\n

The U.S. and Mexico trade about $1.7 billion in goods daily, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which said closing the border would be \u201can unmitigated economic debacle\u201d that would threaten 5 million American jobs.<\/p>\n

Trump tweeted Friday morning, \u201cIf Mexico doesn’t immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States through our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING the Border, or large sections of the Border, next week.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Florida, he didn’t qualify his threat with \u201cor large sections,\u201d stating: \u201cThere is a very good likelihood I’ll be closing the border next week, and that is just fine with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said several times that it would be \u201cso easy\u201d for Mexican authorities to stop immigrants passing through their country and trying to enter the U.S. illegally, \u201cbut they just take our money and ‘talk.\u201d’<\/p>\n

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen suggested Trump was referring to the ongoing surge of mostly Central American families heading north through Mexico. Many people who cross the border illegally ultimately request asylum under U.S. law, which does not require asylum seekers to enter at an official crossing.<\/p>\n

Short of a widespread shutdown, Nielsen said the U.S. might close designated ports of entry to re-deploy staff to help process parents and children. Ports of entry are official crossing points that are used by residents and commercial vehicles.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we have to close ports to take care of all of the numbers who are coming, we will do that,\u201d Nielsen said. \u201cSo it’s on the table, but what we’re doing is a very structured process based on operational needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about whether Trump’s possible action would apply to air travel.<\/p>\n

Trump’s latest declaration came after Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said his country was doing its part to fight migrant smuggling. Criminal networks charge thousands of dollars a person to move migrants through Mexico, increasingly in large groups toward remote sections of the border.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to have a good relationship with the government of the United States,\u201d Lopez Obrador said Friday. He added: \u201cWe are going to continue helping so that the migratory flow, those who pass through our country, do so according to the law, in an orderly way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s foreign relations secretary, tweeted that his country \u201cdoesn’t act based on threats\u201d and is \u201cthe best neighbour\u201d the U.S. could have.<\/p>\n

Customs and Border Protection commissioner Kevin McAleenan said Wednesday that 750 border inspectors would be reassigned to deal with the growing number of migrant families, and the DHS official said Friday that the department was seeking volunteers from other agencies to help.<\/p>\n

In Florida, Trump was also asked about the two migrant children who died in U.S. custody in December. Is the administration equipped to handle sick children who are detained?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that it has been very well stated that we have done a fantastic job,\u201d he said, defending Border Patrol efforts to help the children.<\/p>\n

Trump said that in one of the cases \u201cthe father gave the child no water for a long period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a very tough situation and that trek up, that’s a long hard trek,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s a horrible situation. But Mexico could stop it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democratic and Republican lawmakers have fought over Trump’s contention that there is a \u201ccrisis\u201d at the border, particularly amid his push for a border wall, which he claims will solve immigration problems, though a wall wouldn’t keep out families who cross at official points so they can surrender and be detained.<\/p>\n

The president called on Congress to immediately change what he said were weak U.S. immigration laws, which he blamed on Democrats. The Department of Homeland Security wants the authority to detain families for longer and more quickly deport children from Central America who arrive at the border on their own. The department argues those policy changes would stop families from trying to enter the U.S.<\/p>\n

Alejandra Mier y Teran, executive director of the Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce in San Diego, said the mere threat of border closures sends the wrong message to businesses in Mexico and may eventually scare companies into turning to Asia for their supply chains.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the impact would be absolutely devastating on so many fronts,\u201d said Mier y Teran, whose members rely on the Otay Mesa crossing to bring televisions, medical devices and a wide range of products to the U.S. \u201cIn terms of a long-term effect, it’s basically shooting yourself in your foot. It’s sending out a message to other countries that, ‘Don’t come because our borders may not work at any time.’ That is extremely scary and dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013\u2013\u2013<\/p>\n

Nomaan Merchant reported from Houston, Catherine Lucey from Washington. Associated Press writers Peter Orsi in Mexico City and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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