President Trump in Calexico: border tour, round table with law enforcement

The fight over the border wall, the influx of immigrants crossing illegally, the drug war, gang violence and tension building between the U.S. and Mexico taking center stage right here in our region, with a visit from the President of the United States.

Air Force One touched down at Naval Air Facility El Centro, then the President toured a newly replaced section of the border fence. It is the first section of his controversial wall, that already bears his name.

The visit comes after nearly 50,000 people have crossed illegally, within the Yuma and El Centro Border Patrol Sectors just within the past five months.
The President also brainstormed ideas, with local law enforcement and Border Patrol Agents, who are on the front lines every day.

This comes, as there’s a new threat from the White House. It now comes with a timeline.

President Trump telling Mexican officials he will give them a year to crack down on illegal immigration, drug trafficking and gang violence along the border. If they don’t, he’ll throw a tariff on cars and if that doesn’t work he says he will shut down the entire southern border.

This is a border that hundreds-of-thousands of people travel legally between the U.S. and Mexico every day. The vast majority of the migrants are crossing illegally, not at ports of entry, so many argue closing the border, wouldn’t even help.

It would be a costly closure, too. Mexico is America’s third largest trading partner with $1.7 billion in cross-border spending every day. Almost half of our imported vegetables and 40% of imported fruits are grown in Mexico, so prices could likely spike by 2 or 3 times.