El Paso grappling with the ramifications of proposals
Dominic Rushe in El Paso, Texas
Monday 17 April 2017 06.00 EDT
... Student Ray Dominguez was born and raised in El Paso and like many here has family in Juarez. “El Paso has always been a very accepting place. Trump is dividing people. The one good thing I would say is that we are more proud of who we are,” he says ...
On the Mexican side of the border there are organized campaigns encouraging shoppers to stay in Mexico. El Paso’s retail trade is worth $12.24bn a year, and some $980m of that comes from residents of northern Mexico. On the US side, fear is keeping some undocumented people inside and out of the local economy. “The fear is that a broken tail light, an arbitrary arrest, could land people in a deportation proceeding. So people aren’t going out to buy a bucket of chicken, a six-pack, get those diapers or whatever. There’s less cooperation with law enforcement, people just don’t feel comfortable dealing with law enforcement,” says O’Rourke ...
... El Pasoans are genuinely angered by Trump’s constant attacks on their neighbors and his portrayal of a wild west border that few here recognise. “It’s deeply personal,” says Moore. “People here feel he’s not just attacking the border, he’s attacking me. Everyone in El Paso knows someone who is undocumented and the way this administration has talked about them is seen as really insulting” ...
Mexican trade is vital to Texas. Some $98bn in exports and imports passed through the El Paso customs district in 2015. According to the Dallas Federal Reserve, a 10% increase in manufacturing on the Mexican side of the border increases employment by 2.8% in El Paso, 2.2% in neighbouring Brownsville, 4.6% in Laredo and 6.6% in McAllen ...
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/17/el-paso-texas-beto-orourke-donald-trump-nafta-mexico
