Mexicans Cross Into U.S. Daily For Legal Work
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President Donald Trump has not ordered the closure of the US/Mexico border, but if he does, there are sure to be people who will be trapped on either side of the border. There are thousands of people who go back and forth every day, and if the border closes, what happens to them?

Trump declared a national emergency in February saying that there is an migrant crisis on the border. He wants billions of dollars to build a wall on the southern border, and it appears that because he feels Mexico hasn't done enough to stop the flow of migrants, he is considering the step of closing off access to the United States on the border.

There have been thousands of people who have been detained at various communities up and down the US/Mexico border. In many cases they have come seeking asylum. The Trump administration has put many of those in holding camps until they became overcrowded and had to release hundreds onto the streets of border cities like El Paso.

Migrant rights groups have criticized the Trump administration for separating families and releasing children to families in the US that were not their own, and not being able to reunite families because records of who the children belonged to were not kept by the administration. The groups have been overwhelmed with trying to keep those families together and sheltered, but many cannot take any more migrants because they simply have no more room.

The daily cost of a border shutdown is estimated to be at over a billion dollars in lost revenue. There could also be food shortages because so many of the US's fruits and vegetables come from Mexico.

I spoke with Gustavo Reveles, EPISD spokesperson, and he told me that all El Paso school districts are working with law enforcement agencies to make sure that if parents whose children attend school in El Paso get trapped in Juarez, they will help families reunite. Parents will be notified by the district about their child's status. If the child has a family member on this side of the border and there is permission to do so, they will be released to that family member. If not, law enforcement agencies and the school districts will work together to reunite families.

If you need to reach one of the school districts to check on your child, here are the numbers:

EPISD - 915-230-2000
YISD - 915-434-000
SOCORRO ISD - 915-937-000
SAN ELIZARIO ISD - 915-872-3900
CLINT ISD - 915-926-8200
FABENS ISD - 915-765-2600

UTEP launched a website where students can access for help. Here is a link to that website.

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