Mexico just might agree to pay for that wall after all.
Mexican protesters in Sonora have vowed to stop people from crossing their country’s border with the United States, according to the BBC.
The blockade is a response of fear that Americans will bring coronavirus into Mexico, where only 500 cases of COVID-19 have been reported. More than 75,000 Americans have been infected with the deadly virus that continues to spread from coast to coast.
Sonora reports only four confirmed cases of coronavirus and one of those people was said to be a man who had just crossed over from the United States. According to Johns Hopkins University, 475 Mexicans have tested positive for the virus. That’s only five more than Arizona alone by Vox’s count.
Health and Life, the Mexican protesters who started their campaign to stop border crossings Wednesday, are calling on their government to enforce travel restrictions between the neighboring nations and test everyone who heads south from the U.S.
By no means does Mexico seem to be in the clear. Medical workers there have complained about being ill-equipped to deal with the virus, according to the Los Angeles Times. Critics complain the Mexican government was slow to react after the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in late February. Schools were finally ordered to close last week.
Passage between the countries is supposed to be limited to “essential” travel only as health care workers struggle to contain the pandemic.
It’s an odd turn of events for President Trump, who campaigned on a promise to build a wall to stop Mexicans from entering the U.S. and forcing Mexico to pay for it.
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you,” Trump said in 2015 when he kicked off his successful presidential run. “They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people,”
The activist group also wants to be sure that Mexicans being deported from the U.S. are tested.
Mexican stores along that country’s border with California has also seen a rush of U.S. citizens coming over that border to buy much needed supplies they can’t find at home.
A Costco in Tijuana has reportedly seen lines of 600 people waiting for the store to open at 10 a.m. Many of the cars in the parking lot have California license plates.
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