EL PASO, Texas – What does it mean when President Joe Biden says he will “shut down the border”? Or when former President Donald Trump says it on the campaign trail?
Adair Margo, for one, would like an answer. The art historian and former first lady of El Paso crisscrosses the U.S.-Mexico border to Ciudad Juárez all the time. The claim means something different to those who live on the border than to politicians nearly 2,000 miles away in Washington, D.C.
“No one is very clear about their language,” Margo said. Any attempt to close the border, she said, “would be like having a huge blockade in the middle of a neighborhood. ”
Republicans killed a bipartisan border security bill last week after months of negotiation and repeated calls to “shut down the border.” But political rhetoric around the U.S.-Mexico border is likely to only intensify this presidential election year.