Demonstrators at border say there are other real emergencies in the area

Demonstrators marched along the Calexico downtown border on Friday. They said President Trump should visit the area for more than just to look at the border wall construction.

Chad Cooper, from City of Imperial, said, “I wish he was coming here to talk about the Salton Sea, the New River, childhood asthma and the environmental problems that are causing harm for all imperial county residents.”

They said the president should not deal with illegal immigration by closing the border.

Maribel Padilla, Calexico resident, said, “Impacts everyone in the united states not just the border people. It impacts us more because we have family on the other side. We have friendships.”

Keith Wood, from Yuma, said the president should take a strong stance against undocumented immigration, which he believes are actually coming through the ports of entry.

“Tell him to actually close the pedestrian border to stop the illegal immigration. We’re being invaded by Guatemalans, Salvadorans. We can’t handle it anymore,” Wood said.

They approved of people sharing their concerns in a peaceful way.

Neil Livingston Mars, from Florida, said, “Our First Amendment mandates that we do things like this to let people show their opinion and let people express themselves, but I do believe that both sides should be heard.”

The people we spoke to said this is a perfect time to showcase their many concerns in the hopes that the president would take notice.