Nixon and Reagan tried closing the border to pressure Mexico – here’s what happened

President Trump had threatened to close the U.S. border with Mexico, a threat that he walked back late last week.  It is not clear what that would have meant.   Aileen Teague on The Conversation reviews previous efforts to close the border by Presidents Nixon and Reagan.  Her conclusion:

“[The efforts were] severely disruptive while failing to motivate any meaningful changes in Mexican policy on drug control, border security or anything else. Put another way, they showed that it is effectively impossible to close the U.S.-Mexico border, or to severely restrict traffic, for any extended period of time. The economic, social and cultural interdependence of Mexico and the United States is too deep. And U.S. national security depends on strong relations with Mexico.”

KJ