A series of tweets by President Trump threatening to close the U.S.-Mexico border was condemned by the Arizona congressional delegation โ all Democrats โ on Friday night.
Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick, whose district includes large sections of the Arizona border, flatly condemned the proposal, saying it would be an economic disaster for Southern Arizona.
โClosing the ports of entry at our Southern border would devastate Southern Arizonaโs local economies,โ Kirkpatrick said. โOur immigration system is broken and we need to take smart, serious steps to fix it, not double down on the policies that got us here.โ
U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva said the President's threat to close the U.S. border with Mexico was just another political stunt.
โUsing families as political pawns, threatening to close the southern border, and declaring a fake emergency are no way to conduct policy,โ he said. "I will continue working with my colleagues on family-centered immigration solutions that tackle the root causes of turmoil in the Northern Triangle countries and ensure that asylum seekers are treated with compassion and dignity.โ
U.S. Rep. Tom O'Halleran, whose district includes portions of northern Arizona, said you can't protect Arizona by temporarily closing the border.
โSecuring our border and protecting Arizona communities is a priority, but we cannot address it by arbitrarily closing down our border and points of entry that are critical for our businesses that trade with Mexico,โ O'Halleran said.
A staffer with Sen. Kyrsten Sinemaโs office said the Democratic senator does not weigh in on Trump's tweets and had no statement of his threat to close the border.
A request for comment to Sen. Martha McSally's office was not returned Friday night.
