GOP Senator Rings Warning Bell on Economic Impact of Border Closure

With the President refocusing this week on the political battle over the southern border, not everyone in the GOP is falling in line with the Commander in Chief.

The border battle has been contentious at times, often with video evidence being provided as to the hypocrisy of our nation’s politicians.  The border seems, at times, to be an issue on which any number of public servants, from any corners of the political spectrum will flip-flop, and then flip and flop again, just to score points with their constituents.

All of this political posturing has done nothing for the very real issues that we face on immigration here in America, including a surge of migrants and asylum seekers so vast that it has Customs and Border Patrol authorities sounding the alarm.

With the President continuing to make threats to close the entire US-Mexico border, one GOP Senator is sounding an alarm of his own.

In a Tuesday appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) discussed the economic impact closing the United States’ southern border with Mexico would have.

“[W]e do need to be sure that we keep the ports of entry open,” Portman told CNBC’s Becky Quick. “The president’s point is a good one, though. There is a crisis at the border. We have 4,000 people a day now being apprehended, mostly it’s families and a lot of kids. So, we do need to change some laws which would be much more effective than shutting down the ports.”

Portman went on to lament that this “disruption of commerce” would be “terrible” for the economy.

Food lovers have already begun fretting over the impact that a closure would have on the produce trade after reports showed how quickly the US would gobble up the entirety of its avocados without imports of the beloved fruit.