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From the moment he entered the race for the White House until today, President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted that he will have a wall constructed on the border between the U.S. and Mexico, and that Mexico would ultimately pay for it.
Of course, Mexican government officials have been equally insistent over the same period that they would never pay for a wall, and now one top official has even suggested Mexico proactively turn its vehement opposition into retaliatory measures against the U.S., according to Fox News.
Calling a border wall an “unfriendly, hostile act,” Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray told other officials that they should consider imposing a special entry fee on Americans crossing the border.
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“We could explore — not necessarily a visa, that could impede a lot of people from coming to Mexico — but we could perhaps (have) a fee associated with entry,” Videgaray said. “This is something that I’m sure will be part of our discussion, and I believe we can find points of agreement.”
Videgaray also proposed Mexico take other actions against the U.S., such as ceasing cooperation on a number of matters, if the Trump administration persists in its effort to secure the border.
“If the negotiation on other themes — immigration, the border, trade — isn’t satisfactory to Mexico’s interests, we will have to review our existing cooperation,” Videgaray stated. “This would be especially in the security areas … and that involves the national immigration agency, the federal police and of course, the armed forces.”
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However, Independent Journal Review pointed out that Mexican cooperation with American law enforcement was nearly non-existent in a number of areas, such as immigration enforcement and extradition for death penalty cases. The corruption of some Mexican military and police units by criminal cartels only exacerbates the issue.
As to whether an entry fee on Americans would be worthwhile for Mexico, the nation’s leaders should consider the deleterious effect such a move could have on their tourism industry, a vital part of their ailing economy that relies heavily on American tourists spending U.S. dollars in Mexico.
BizPac Review noted that social media users reacted with sarcasm at the proposal, with some users pointing out that such a move could ultimately hurt Mexico more than it would hurt the U.S.
@FoxNews Pretty sure the resort industry in his country would string him up if they try something like this!
— ArchieB (@SirGeorgeD) April 26, 2017
@FoxNews Yes, good idea! Keep the "gringos", and their gringo-dollars, out of that incredibly prosperous country. Smart, very smart….
— Ed Hounter (@EasyEd95) April 26, 2017
As an ironic side note, Mexico began its own efforts in 2016 at building a wall on its southern border with Central America to combat illegal immigration, with U.S. taxpayer assistance no less.
There is no word yet on whether Belize and Guatemala are charging Mexicans entry fees to cross into their beautiful but impoverished countries as well.
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