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Mayors of San Diego And Tijuana Reaffirm Commitment To Partnership Amid Trump Chaos
The U.S.-Mexican border. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)
On Monday, the mayors of Tijuana and San Diego held a joint news conference to pledge their continued commitment to collaboration between the two cities amid fraying ties between the U.S. and Mexico.
Issues between the U.S. and Mexico have intensified since President Trump took office last month, with plans for a border wall and heavy taxes on imports creating what Reuters has dubbed a "crisis" between the two countries. Decisions on trade policy at the national level will "have outsize impacts on jobs, growth and opportunities for San Diegans," according to a San Diego Union-Tribune story published last month.
The Union-Tribune reports that the news conference was held at San Diego City Hall following a meeting between San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastélum. The two border cities are home to the busiest border crossing in North America, according to KPBS.
Packed news conference as Tijuana mayor and @Kevin_Faulconer discuss plans to work together despite some political unrest @CBS8 @News8 pic.twitter.com/NAMvzr33xN
— Shannon Handy (@ShannonNews8) February 6, 2017
The cross-border San Diego-Tijuana metropolitan area makes up a combined economy of $230 billion, and the region is a manufacturing hub. "Our binational economy helps bring San Diego jobs," Faulconer said, according to CBS 8. "It brings San Diego investment and it brings San Diego opportunities that can't be found anywhere else." The two leaders plan to sign an official agreement reaffirming their commitment to a regional partnership between the two cities, which Faulconer had also done with Tijuana's previous mayor (Gastélum has been in office for just two months).
Former San Diego mayor and current San Diego Chamber of Commerce CEO Jerry Sanders characterized the two cities as a "model cross-border region," according to the Times of San Diego.
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