Donald Trump persuaded by Laredo mayor to temper border wall plan
From the article:
In the middle of Saturday’s Texas Tribune Festival panel on the border and the Legislature, state Rep. César Blanco, an El Paso Democrat, asked two of his Republicans colleagues if there was something they could do to keep Donald Trump from exploiting the border for his own political benefit.
“Do you think any of us can control Donald Trump?” replied state Rep. Larry Phillips, the Sherman Republican who chairs the House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee. Perhaps not.
But the panel of border mayors that followed included Pete Saenz of Laredo, who hosted Trump on his whirlwind border inspection tour in July, and may have actually persuaded Trump to slightly moderate his plans for a great wall between Mexico and the United States.
As Saenz told the American-Statesman after the panel discussion, he was obligated to be a “gracious” host to Trump but also obliged during his border briefing for Trump to explain why the Republican presidential front-runner’s plans for a wall and mass deportations were ill-advised.
“I told him it was not practical,” Saenz said of the wall. “I told him aside from it being offensive to Mexico, which is our second- or third-largest trading partner, the cost is impractical, and it’s not practical inside Texas, where the Rio Grande sometimes throughout the year is a source of drinking water for livestock.”
“We’re a ranching community,” Saenz said. “What are you going to do — dam the tributaries?
“He did change his tone a little bit,” Saenz said. “He did say maybe the wall is not appropriate for the entire border and certain sections are not conducive for that.”
-snip-
Rep. Poncho Nevarez, D-Eagle Pass, who represents the largest border district, said: “Borders are always going to be porous — that’s what borders are. The idea of sealing the border, it’s not going to happen.
“What I object to is being a political piñata,” he said.
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Supporting Video:
QUESTION: Are you still in favor of a wall?
Donald J. Trump: Yes, in certain sections, you have to have a wall, absolutely.
Here is the entire press conference.
http://www.c-span.org/video/?327294-3/donald-trump-news-conference-laredo-texas
here is the clip
http://www.c-span.org/video/?c4578297/donald-trump-wall-needed-certain-sections
well he didn’t actually mean it you know, he was just spoofing......, I just don’t know which statement he was spoofing on, the really big wall, or the maybe some wall, will settle for a gate/trump logo, but that’s tomorrows statement. Yep are real deal maker there.
[“He did say maybe the wall is not appropriate for the entire border and certain sections are not conducive for that.â€]
What is NOT conducive location to building a wall are mountainous regions of the border, and by natural water boundaries like the Rio Grande. These area can be patrolled by air and water respectively.