COMMERCE WITH MEXICO
*from Feb 23, 2017 town hall event*
CD2 takes in a $1 billion in revenue from Mexican tourism. This is a bipartisan issue.
Rep. McSally has said, “The number one priority I hear about from Southern Arizonans is creating more economic opportunity for our region.” She’s given speeches to to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and the Southeast Arizona Hospitality Association, and told both she wanted Arizona to capitalize on the booming Mexican economy.
She pushed for funding to renovate the Douglas Port of Entry, and introduced a bill to fund the Sonoran Corridor to improve the flow of goods between AZ and Mexico.
In May of 2016, she hosted a panel of speakers in Sahuarita to talk about border issues. The focus was on security, but she also said, “As we are trying to keep those who are trying to do us harm out, we’ve got to make sure that we are having a free flow of commerce and traffic that’s legitimate for trade opportunities for growing our economy. We can do both really well.”
During the campaign, on multiple occasions, she said she had “concerns” about the inflammatory language candidate Donald Trump used regarding Hispanics. But since the election, we’re not seeing her connect the dots between his insulting stereotypes and the reactions the Mexican people are bound to have, which will cause serious harm to the economy. Other politicians have done it:
Here is Rep. Raul Grijalva: “If Donald Trump succeeds in imposing a 20% tariff on Mexican goods, it will be economically devastating to communities in the borderlands and across the country.”
Sen. John McCain pointed out that Mexico is Arizona’s number 1 trade partner; 65,000 Mexican visitors come to Arizona every day, and spend $7.8 million daily.
Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild: “The only remedy is constant communication, letting our friends and business partners in Mexico know that there are many of us in Arizona who believe these policies are wrong.”
Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton: “Building a wall will only tear our economy down, and damage relationships with Mexico that today support 100,000 Arizona jobs.”
And then we get this: “The Tucson Sentinel contacted U.S. Rep. Martha McSally for comment, but that request went unanswered by her office.”
She did release a statement on the wall. She called the President’s executive order a “strong start in the right direction.” She talked about the drug cartels, and untying the hands of the Border Patrol. Nothing in the statement was intended to reassure our largest trading partner that Arizona values that relationship.