Republican Trump critic Jeff Flake talks trade, migrants and border security in Mexico

Record ID: 77708

  • Title: Republican Trump critic Jeff Flake talks trade, migrants and border security in Mexico
  • Date: 23rd November 2016
  • Summary: TIJUANA, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO (FILE) (REUTERS) BORDER FENCE BETWEEN MEXICO AND THE USA BORDER PATROL VEHICLE GENERAL VIEW OF US SIDE OF THE BORDER MORE OF BORDER FENCE SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS AT BORDER BORDER FENCE AT BEACH AREA CIUDAD JUAREZ, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO (FILE) (REUTERS) EARTHMOVER TAKING DOWN BORDER FENCE CONSTRUCTION WORKERS STANDING AT BORDER FENCE EARTHMOVER MOVING PART OF NEW BORDER FENCE CONSTRUCTION WORKERS AT NEW BORDER FENCE MORE OF EARTHMOVER MOVING PART OF BORDER FENCE
  • Embargoed: 8th December 2016 01:52
  • Keywords: migration border security Mexico president-election Donald Trump trade USA Jeff Flake
  • Location: MEXICO CITY, TIJUANA, BAJA CALIFORNIA, CIUDAD JUAREZ, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO
  • City: MEXICO CITY, TIJUANA, BAJA CALIFORNIA, CIUDAD JUAREZ, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA00259NYFZ9
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Trump critic and Republican Senator from Arizona, Jeff Flake was in Mexico on Tuesday (November 22) where he discussed the president-elect, trade and border security in the Mexican capital.
    Uncertainty in Mexico since Donald Trump's election victory has stirred fears about the outlook for the Mexican economy after threats to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement and impose tariffs on Mexican-made goods. The president-elect has also vowed to build a massive wall on the border to seal off illegal immigration after labelling immigrants from Mexico "rapists" and "criminals".
    But speaking in Mexico, Flake struck a more conciliatory tone towards Trump saying comments on the campaign are very different from actual government.
    "We're now in a position, the Trump administration is being put together and while what the president-elect said during his campaign, he is certainly going to emphasise border security for example and trade deals. He's already announced he will exit the TPP or remove the U.S. from that. But with regard to how these things are implemented, we'll see going forward. Campaigns are different from governing, we all know that," he said.
    In June, Flake hit out at plans for a border wall between Mexico and the United States saying that trade between both nations was too important. According to the Senator, trade between Mexico and Arizona alone was worth $17 billion dollars.
    Fake told media his job under a Trump administration is to explain the benefits of cross-border trade.
    "Part of my job, and those of us who live in Border States and see that relationship up front, is to explain to our colleagues and the new administration the importance of the relationship and the complexity of trade. And that it is not a zero-sum game. When trade happens it benefits all parties. There are dislocations in certain regions and among certain populations, but overall it is a net positive," he added.
    Although disagreeing on a border wall, Flake has touted the need for further measures to better regulate the movement of people across the border such as temporary work permits and allowing U.S. employers to better determine which migrants are documented or not.
    "Additional border security is certainly needed. The president-elect has made that clear that that is a priority of his. There are other elements of immigration reform that are also needed; dealing with the 11 million undocumented who are in the country now, more robust temporary worker programmes, interior enforcement measures that give employers better ideas of who is here illegally, who is in the country illegally and who is not," declared Flake.
    Earlier this month, Trump conceded that in "certain areas" of the border between Mexico and the United States there could be a border fence rather than the wall he proposed during campaigning.
    The president-elect has vowed to make Mexico pay for the wall through possible changes to tax or prohibit remissions from migrants in the United States or a charge on American visas for Mexican citizens.
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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