Pelosi Scoffs at Idea of Border Closure While Trump Continues Threat
The suggestion that the U.S. could shut down the ports of entry at the Mexican border "is an applause line, but it's not an idea," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at an event hosted by Politico on April 2. She said she would hope there would be enough maturity at the White House not to make the threat a reality. President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House later in the day, both reiterated the threat and softened his tone on the likelihood of it happening. While he said that if Congress doesn't make a deal to stop the practice he called "catch and release," "the border's going to be closed -- 100 percent." But he also said that Mexico has started to prevent more Central Americans from crossing their territory into the United States.
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Rep. Bill Pascrell, a senior Democrat on the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, said in response to a question from International Trade Today that "we need to take it seriously and not just think it’s a jest on his part." If Trump were to close the border, he said, it would hurt the administration's chances of getting a new NAFTA through Congress. He said he'd tell Trump: "stop now, don't waste your time."
Rep. Veronica Escobar, a freshman Democrat who represents the El Paso area, said she's worried Trump could do it. "We have a very erratic president who... doesn't think about consequences, doesn't care about consequences, and he's very capricious and arbitrary, and he uses government to hurt people. I have no doubt he would go through with this."
Business interests continued to react to the threat, as well, with Freedom Partners urging the administration not to stop commerce at Mexican ports of entry in response to a surge of asylum seekers from Central America. "Trade with Mexico and other nations is a big reason why the American economy is as strong as it is today. The flow of goods and people is integral to the larger American economy and central to improving lives and removing barriers to opportunity. Closing down the border would devastate American businesses, families and workers," Executive Vice President Nathan Nascimento said. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also voiced its concerns during a call with reporters on April 2. Such "signals" hurt companies' ability to plan and can result in the stocking up of inventories, said John Murphy, senior vice president for international policy. As was seen following the attacks of Sept. 11, major border slowdowns have serious ramifications, given the intertwined supply chains, he said.