Retailers in San Diego got a small taste of that last November, when members of a migrant caravan charged the border and U.S. officials closed one border crossing in response. While that shutdown lasted only a few hours, it came on what should have been one of the busiest shopping days of the year. And the fallout was severe, costing local merchants an estimated $5.3 million in lost sales.
“I easily, easily lost between $3,500 to $4,500 just that day,” said Louie Saloumi, who runs a churro stand in an outlet mall just north of the border that caters to Mexican shoppers.
Saloumi said if the border were closed for a full week, he’d be out of business.
“That mall would be a ghost town,” he said.
Closing the entire U.S. border with Mexico would also put the brakes on more than $1.6 billion worth of goods that cross back and forth every day, including 50 million pounds of fresh Mexican produce that now fills 100 warehouses in Nogales, Ariz.
One importer warned that the U.S. would run out of avocados in three weeks, but guacamole is the least of it. Fresh tomatoes, peppers, melons and eggplant for the whole country would soon be in short supply.
“Probably over half of what most consumers put in their shopping bag when it comes to fresh produce, they would find reduced quantities and higher prices,” said Lance Jungmeyer, president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas.
The Trump administration has already announced plans to halt truck traffic through Nogales on Sundays, as customs officers who typically staff the border crossing there are reassigned to deal with the influx of Central American migrants. If that shutdown extends to other days of the week, Jungmeyer worries some people will be out of work.
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