Will the United States border with Mexico be completely sealed off? President Donald Trump has threatened to do just that. Not only would people be forbidden from crossing the border, but goods would be as well. This would disrupt global supply chains and affect billions of dollars in trade.
Now, President Trump is telling Congress to act on immigration reform or he will seal off the border. Speaking to the press, Trump said “chain migration” needed to be ended and “something” has to be done about asylum. Many of the migrants making their way across the border are claiming asylum, arguing that they cannot safely return home.
Trump also said he wanted to “get rid of judges.” The comment was directed at the long legal process that plays out after someone claims asylum. Trump rocked the boat further, calling for the end of the lottery system. Currently, the United States selects most of its new immigrants through a random lottery. If Trump gets his way, immigration may instead switch over to a merit-based system.
Trump believes that reform would be easy if Democrats played ball. He stated: “It is the worst, dumbest immigration system in the world. The Democrats can change it in one meeting. Everyone would agree. But they don’t want to change it because they don’t want to give Republicans a victory.”
However, the scrapping of the lottery system and other proposed reforms stand in stark contrast to the pro-immigration platform supported by many Democrats. While Democrats may be eager to deny the president easy victories, they also won’t be sacrificing some of the key tenets of their platform.
So what’s this all mean? If there is no budge, the border might actually be shut down. This could cause billions of dollars in economic damage, resulting in rising prices in the United States and layoffs.
