Border shutdown

TRUMP THREATENS TO SHUT DOWN BORDER AS FEDERAL SHUTDOWN CONTINUES

By Miriam Raftery

December 28, 2018 (San Diego) – As a government shutdown over a budget impasse enters its second week, President Donald Trump today threatened to shut down the entire U.S.-Mexico border indefinitely unless Congress passes a budget with billions of dollars in funding to build a border wall.

“We will be forced to close the Southern Border entirely if the Obstructionist Democrats do not give us the money to finish the Wall & also change the ridiculous immigration laws that our Country is saddled with,” Trump said in a morning tweet. 

But in fact, Republicans still control both the House and Senate until January 3, when Democrats will become the majority party in the House of Representatives—and Congress adjourned for the holidays without passing the President’s budget.

The San Diego and Imperial County Chambers of Commerce estimated that a one-day border shutdown at San Ysidro, one of the world's busiest border crossings, over Thanksgiving weekend cost an estimated $5 million in lost revenues to the San Diego County economy. 


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U.S. SHUTS DOWN BORDER AT SAN YSIDRO, TEAR GASSES MIGRANTS INCLUDING CHILDREN

 

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Screenshot off CBS 8 live feed

Update November 26, 2018 with comments from Congresswoman Susan Davis.

Update 5:30 p.m.: Border Patrol has reopened northbound and southbound lanes.

November 25, 2018 (San Diego)—U.S. Customs and Border Patrol has shut down the international border at San Ysidro in both directions today, also closing major highways and roads nearby including portions of I-5, I-805, and state route 905.  A trolley line and pedestrian crossing that closed temporarily have since reopened.

When some members of a migrant caravan from Central America attempted to cross into the U.S., agents repelled them with tear gas. Reuters reports children and babies were screaming after the attack. There are also eyewitness reports that a loud sound device was deployed, possibly a flash-bang device or a sonic weapon.

The border shutdown on a busy holiday weekend inconvenienced vacationers on both sides of the border seeking to return home.  Border crossers were forced to detour and endure hours-long waits to crossings at Otay or Tecate.


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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.