Several city mayors and county judges along the Texas-Mexico border region have expressed sharp disapproval of Donald Trump’s pledge to “close up our borders” following back-to-back terrorist attacks in Brussels.
“I would close up our borders to people until we figure out what’s going on,” the Republican presidential front-runner told Fox News on Tuesday, hours after the coordinated attacks were first reported.
“We have to be very, very vigilant with who we let into this country. We are taking in people without real documentation,” he added.
But the non-partisan Texas Border Coalition, which claims to represent more than 2.5 million people from Brownsville to El Paso, Texas, said Tuesday that Trump’s plan would do little to actually improve domestic security despite making Americans feel safer.
“Closing our land border with Mexico would be a ridiculous staging of security theater: the practice of false efforts intended to provide the feeling of improved security while doing little or nothing to actually achieve it,” TBC Chairman J.D. Salinas said in a statement.
“Since Sept. 11, 2001, the United States has made unprecedented investments in protecting the Southwest Border from the illegal entry of people, weapons, drugs and contraband,” he continued. “Those investments include personnel, technology and infrastructure. The story of the men and women protecting the Southwest border is a success story: seizing more currency, drugs, and weapons than ever.”
“The Southwest border security team needs more resources, not false efforts that harm morale and the economy,” Salinas said.
In addition to calling for closed borders, Trump has previously said the U.S. should bar all non-American Muslims from entering the U.S. until Congress and President Obama “figure out what is going on.”
