WASHINGTON, (KMOX/AP) - The White House could be putting its money where your mouth is, so to speak. If the President Donald Trump follows through with a threat to close its southern border, the United States could run out of numerous fruits and other foods within weeks.
The largest distributor and grower of avocados in the world is Mission Produce in Mexico and its president told Reuters, "Americans would run out of avocados in three weeks if imports from Mexico were stopped."
The U.S. has become heavily reliant on Mexico for food items, so much so that nearly half of all imported vegetables and 40 percent of imported fruits into the U.S. are grown in Mexico.
Besides avocados, the U.S. gets a majority of its tomatoes, cucumbers, blackberries and raspberries from Mexico, as well as refined fuels like diesel and gasoline, reports Reuters.
Nearly 100,000 migrants were intercepted on the border in March. Because of record flows, border officials say they are unable to hold people for ICE and instead are letting them go.
The DEMOCRATS have given us the weakest immigration laws anywhere in the World. Mexico has the strongest, & they make more than $100 Billion a year on the U.S. Therefore, CONGRESS MUST CHANGE OUR WEAK IMMIGRATION LAWS NOW, & Mexico must stop illegals from entering the U.S....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
March 29, 2019 ....through their country and our Southern Border. Mexico has for many years made a fortune off of the U.S., far greater than Border Costs. If Mexico doesn’t immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States throug our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
March 29, 2019 ....the Border, or large sections of the Border, next week. This would be so easy for Mexico to do, but they just take our money and “talk.” Besides, we lose so much money with them, especially when you add in drug trafficking etc.), that the Border closing would be a good thing!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
March 29, 2019 The U.S. and Mexico trade about $1.7 billion in goods daily, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which said closing the border would be "an unmitigated economic debacle" that would threaten 5 million American jobs.
Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz, chairman of the Texas Border Coalition, said a closure would be catastrophic.
"Closing the border would cause an immediate depression in border state communities and, depending on the duration, a recession in the rest of the country," he said.
© 2019 KMOX/Associated Press (Entercom). All rights reserved
