BORDER/CALIFORNIA/CONGRESS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WALL: “California officials on both sides of the aisle are warning that President Trump’s repeated vows to close the border with Mexico ‘for a long time’ — to thwart what he claims are security threats posed by refugee caravans — will have disastrous long-term economic and human impacts on the state. Trump on Monday [11-26-18] morning sent out a tweet threatening to close the border, ‘permanently if need be.’ And in an interview with POLITICO Tuesday [11-27-18] night, he insisted that he would ‘totally’ be willing to shut down the government if Congress doesn’t deliver $5 billion to construct the border wall, which he insists is necessary to protect Americans against the threat of criminals and caravans headed to the border region. But San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, a Republican, said Wednesday that there will be huge stakes for his city and the San Ysidro port of entry, the world’s busiest border crossing, a thriving binational region ‘where 100,000 jobs depend directly on cross-border trade’…Last Sunday alone, when the port of entry was closed by the Trump Administration for five hours, San Ysidro shop owners and the local mall were estimated to lose more than $5 million — ‘and that’s just one community,’’ he said.”
–Carla Marinucci, “Trump border crossing threats put San Diego region on edge,” Politico, November 28, 2018 7:38 pm