GlobalSecurity.org 9/24/06 – “would threaten economies that depend on customers crossing from Mexico. The economic ramifications of increased border security hit businesses on the border…Longer wait times discouraged many from making the trip to El Paso…Mexican visitors have a $3 billion impact on the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas, says Suad Ghaddar, an economist with the Center for Border Economic Studies at the University of Texas-Pan American. That spending supports more than 64,000 jobs, Ghaddar says. The impact in California is about $4.5 billion, she says, supporting 67,000 jobs.”
Cato Institute 10/30/06 – “Drastically reducing legal entries from Mexico would be an economic disaster. Mexico is America’s second largest trading partner, and expanding trade and investment ties depend on expanding cross-border visits. Mexican shoppers and tourists have fueled economic growth in U.S. border communities.”
McAllen Chamber of Commerce Spokesperson Nancy Millar to Dallas Morning News 10/6/06 – “Everybody down here realizes that a fence is just not workable. Wildlife-watching sustains 2,500 local jobs. And here we’ve got this initiative that could potentially do the opposite of what it is trying to do, which is save jobs for people in the United States.” (Dallas Morning News, “Borderland fence will cause more harm than good,” 10/6/06)
San Francisco Chronicle 2/26/06 – “Leaders in many border cities already have vehemently objected to a fence. The city of Calexico in Imperial County passed a resolution in early January opposing it. ‘We should be in the construction of bridges of good relationships with Mexico,’ said Calexico Mayor Alex Perrone…Calexico’s retail economy depends on Mexican shoppers, he added. ‘If we don’t have Mexico, we don’t have Calexico.’ Mike Allen, director of the McAllen (Texas) Economic Development Corp., said leaders from along the Rio Grande agreed at a recent gathering: ‘Every single mayor from Brownsville to El Paso is against it.'”
Comment & Debate