Feinstein: President Trump’s Threat to Close Southern Border Would Be Economic Disaster

March 29, 2019

Contact: Adam Russell (202) 224-9629

Feinstein: President Trump's Threat to Close Southern Border Would Be Economic Disaster

Washington--Senate Judiciary Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) issued the following statement on President Trump's threat to close the Southern Border:

"President Trump needs to stop with the ridiculous threats and manufactured crises at the border. Aside from the humanitarian reasons and the terrible precedent it would set, his latest threat to close the Southern Border would be an economic disaster.

"Mexico is the United States' third biggest trading partner, accounting for more than $1.6 billion in two-way trade each day, including $2.1 million in commercial exchange between San Diego and Tijuana alone. Mexico is California's top export market, accounting for 17.3 percent of our state's exports.

"In a single day, 70,000 vehicles, including more than 16,500 trucks carrying food, goods and parts, and nearly 1 million people cross lawfully through our ports of entry. In fact, nearly 70 percent of the commerce along our border is done via trucks, including more than $42 billion through Otay Mesa in California, the nation's second busiest truck port, each year.

"If the president shuts the border down, even for a short period of time, trade would crash to a screeching halt. When he shut the San Ysidro port of entry down for five hours in November, San Diego shop owners lost $5.3 million in sales.

"While some in the president's administration have tried to walk back his outlandish tweets, I strongly believe the president needs to consider the serious ramifications of closing the Southern Border before tweeting that threat out."