- Title: Mexicans in Ciudad Juarez sceptical of Trump's border wall solution
- Date: 26th January 2017
- Summary: CIUDAD JUAREZ, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO (JANUARY 25, 2017) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS PROFANITY*** BORDER CROSSING POINT U.S. FLAGS ON POLES NEAR BORDER AREA U.S. AND MEXICAN FLAGS NEAR BORDER PEDESTRIAN BORDER CROSSING MEXICAN FLAGS WAVING CARS AT BORDER CROSSING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT OF THE CIUDAD JUAREZ TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION, MANUEL SOTELO, SAYING: "This wall has already been partly built and now there is the promise to build the rest. I think he (Trump) is within his rights, it is his country and he has the money to do it but I think it is giving a bad message to Mexicans and the world." VARIOUS OF BORDER WALL (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CIUDAD JUAREZ RESIDENT, RUBEN HERNANDEZ, SAYING: "It is his (Trump) country he has the right to do it but it doesn't have anything to do with us Mexicans. Why do we have to pay for it? He wants to take our taxes. I think that is bad, he is crazy." CANAL NEAR BORDER GRAFFITI IMAGE OF TRUMP ON CANAL PROFANITY NEAR GRAFFITI IMAGE OF TRUMP MORE OF GRAFFITI GRAFFITI IMAGE OF MEXICAN PRESIDENT, ENRIQUE PENA NIETO (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LOCAL ACADEMIC, JESUS PENA, SAYING: "Mexico has said firmly that it is not going to pay for the wall. I think we need to take the next step which is that the Mexican government with the Unites States come up with a plan for the construction of the wall concerning the objectives of the wall, migration control at the border and security at the border. This is also a problem for Mexico. So I think there needs to be a step forward more than just resisting the wall but also to sit with Trump and to come up with a plan that works better because all that we have seen at the border for a long time now is that the wall does not work." BRIDGE AT BORDER CROSSING AREA
- Embargoed: 9th February 2017 02:28
- Keywords: migrants Mexico border wall President Donald Trump USA Ciudad Juarez
- Location: CIUDAD JUAREZ, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO
- City: CIUDAD JUAREZ, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO
- Country: Mexico
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00160KXZYF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS PROFANITY
Mexicans in the border city of Ciudad Juarez have spoken out against the proposed border wall of U.S. President Donald Trump saying it is not the solution to stop migrants and drugs heading north.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday (January 25) ordered construction of a U.S.-Mexican border wall via directive to cover the roughly 2,000-mile (3,200-km) U.S.-Mexico border.
Ciudad Juarez sits in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, just across from El Paso, Texas. A border wall already exists along the international border between the states.
At the height of Mexico's drugs war, Ciudad Juarez was the country's most dangerous city. But in recent years security has strengthened and the city has become an international draw for companies wanting to set up factories in Mexico.
Ciudad Juarez local and President of the Ciudad Juarez Transport Association, Manuel Sotelo, told Reuters that Trump's border wall sends out the wrong message to Mexicans and the world.
"This wall has already been partly built and now there is the promise to build the rest. I think he (Trump) is within his rights, it is his country and he has the money to do it but I think it is giving a bad message to Mexicans and the world," he said.
Federal funds in the United States will be initially earmarked for construction of the border wall but Trump has touted that Mexico will eventually pay for the wall. Taxing remittances has been one suggestion put forward by the new president.
But Mexicans believe that the cost should not fall on them.
"It is his (Trump) country he has the right to do it but it doesn't have anything to do with us Mexicans. Why do we have to pay for it? He wants to take our taxes. I think that is bad, he is crazy," said local, Ruben Hernandez.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has rejected suggestions that Mexico will pay for the wall's construction.
Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray is in Washington D.C. for official talks in which the subject of the wall is expected to be discussed.
But researcher at a Ciudad Juarez college, Jesus Pena, told Reuters that Pena Nieto should reach out to Trump in formulating a joint plan for a possible border wall that addresses the concerns of both nations.
"Mexico has said firmly that it is not going to pay for the wall. I think we need to take the next step which is that the Mexican government with the Unites States come up with a plan for the construction of the wall concerning the objectives of the wall, migration control at the border and security at the border. This is also a problem for Mexico. So I think there needs to be a step forward more than just resisting the wall but also to sit with Trump and to come up with a plan that works better because all that we have seen at the border for a long time now is that the wall does not work," he said.
Pena Nieto is expected to meet with Trump next week to advance bilateral issues including the border wall and renegotiating the NAFTA agreement.
However, critics have called for the Mexican President to call off the meeting in protest of Trump's border wall directive. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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