Donald Trump’s plan to have Mexico pay for wall would be destructive to Arizona

PHOENIX — After Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump released his plan for how he would force Mexico to pay for a border wall on Tuesday, one Arizona official claimed it could destroy the state economically.

James Garcia with the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce said Arizona’s economy would tank if a border wall was put in place.

“That cash flow back and forth, that commerce, happens at multiple levels and it is into the billions of dollars just in Arizona,” he said. “So it would be extremely destructive to the economy of Arizona, because it would be a ripple effect.”

Garcia said he thinks Trump understands the “impossibility” of a border wall because of his knowledge of international commerce.

“Trump has an understanding of international commerce, he has an understanding of what it takes to move cash back and forth, and he’s knows very well that what he is suggesting is an impossibility,” he said.

The leading Republican candidate’s plan involves stopping immigrants who live in the U.S. from sending money back to their families in Mexico or other countries. But if it happened, what would it mean for Arizona?

“The first reaction by the Mexican people would be to say, ‘I’m not spending a damn penny in the United States,’” Garcia said.

The next to fall — employment. Garcia said that’s because the billions of dollars that goes between Arizona and Mexico is directly tied to jobs.

“And the next step is that those jobs obviously feed into the tax base of our economy,” Garcia said.

Mexico could then go bankrupt because the transfer funds are the second largest source of foreign income behind oil, he said.

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