President Donald Trump warned Congress again on Wednesday that he'll shutdown the border without immediate action.
Trump said Tuesday that he's 'ready to close' the border if Congress doesn't change America's immigration laws.
'Congress must get together and immediately eliminate the loopholes at the Border! If no action, Border, or large sections of Border, will close. This is a National Emergency!' he proclaimed on Wednesday.
Administration officials were working behind the scenes to limit disruptions to the economy, in case Trump suddenly opted to act on his threat.
Economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Wednesday morning that the administration was looking at keeping freight lanes open if Trump shuts down the rest of the border. He also stressed that the president hasn't made a decision to shut it down, yet.
'We're very integrated with the Mexican economy,' he acknowledged at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast. 'We certainly looking at it, we're certainly exploring it. We will do the best that we can in the event that that becomes necessary.'
Economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Wednesday morning that the administration was looking at keeping freight lanes open if Trump shuts down the rest of the border
Trump warned Congress again on Wednesday that he'll shutdown the border without immediate action
In this photo taken on April 2, 2019 cars line up to cross to San Diego, US from Tijuana, Mexico at San Ysidro crossing port in Baja California state, Mexico
White House Director of Strategic Communication Mercedes Schlapp punted to the president's Council of Economic Advisers as she was cornered by reporters outside the building on Wednesday morning and questioned about a possible border closure's economic impacts.
'They're studying all options,' she said. 'They're looking ways to ensure that we're able to minimize any economic impact.'
She said the Department of Homeland Security is working on alternatives to a closure, but the border crisis is at a 'breaking point' and it's a priority for the president.
'We're looking at all options. I think what we've already started to see is Secretary Nielsen has ordered the redeployment of resources from the ports of entry to other points along the border where we're seeing the surge of illegal immigrants coming through the border. So that's where we are at this point,' she said.
DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has established an inter-agency task force that's being led by border patrol veteran Manny Padilla. She reportedly said on a call that the administration is treating the border emergency like a Category 5 storm.
'We know that this is a crisis. It's a humanitarian crisis. We want to be able to manage this as we've seen the system is overwhelmed, and it's at a breaking point,' Schlapp on Wednesday said.
If the border were to totally shut down it would hamper tourism and trade o nboth sides of the border. Trucks delivering goods would be temporarily barred from traveling between the United States and Mexico.
While it is impossible to estimate the total economic cost of a border closure, experts anticipate losses in the billions.
In 2017, the U.S. and Mexico did $558 billion in business with one another. Mexico is the United States' third largest trading partner after Canada and China.
Trump's acting chief of staff warned Sunday that the president isn't bluffing. He said it would take 'something dramatic' to change Trump's mind.
While the state of Texas would bear the brunt of a border closure, California, Arizona and New Mexico will also share in the pain.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said Wednesday that he would be 'supportive of' the president if he shuts down the border but he would 'want it to be as short as possible.'
'I don't see any reason why that would have to happen, when all Congress needs to do is act on something that I think everyone, Democrat and Republican, knows is a real issue,' he said.
Ducey said trade with Mexico is 'incredibly important but border security comes first,' and the economic impact of a closure would depend on the timing of such an action.
Trump complained Tuesday that the U.S. has the 'worst, dumbest immigration system in the world,' and he said he's lobbying congressional Democrats to change it.
Specifically, he wants them to end the 'catch and release' policy that allows illegal immigrants to roam freely in the U.S. while they wait for their cases to be adjudicated by immigration judges. That can take
