WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) responded to President Trump’s continued threats that he will close the entire southern border, jeopardizing New Mexico’s economy and thriving trade and cultural relationship with Mexico. Today, President Trump acknowledged that his reckless proposal would hurt the nation’s economy. Udall and Heinrich issued the following joint statement:
“President Trump is not a dictator who can unilaterally close the border to extort Congress for policies that lack public support. Shutting down the border would be a catastrophic blunder – costing our economy billions and risking thousands of jobs -- and it would be particularly devastating for border states like New Mexico, where a thriving trade relationship with Mexico is energizing our state’s economy. And the president’s threat is completely counter-productive: closing or choking off ports of entry would simply push even more asylum seeking migrants to cross between ports, worsening the humanitarian crisis that has been deeply exacerbated by this administration’s backwards immigration policies.
“This is yet another instance of the president’s attempts to govern by extortion, the same approach that gave us the longest shutdown in American history. If President Trump follows through on this half-baked, out-of-touch idea, he would cost our economy $1.7 billion per day and cost New Mexico $72 million a day in trade – not to mention the lasting damage such a move would do to our border communities and our values as a nation. Border state leaders – on both sides of the aisle and across all communities – need to speak out against this reckless threat that targets border communities, jobs, and our way of life.”
###
