A new project will highlight the relationship that currently exists between Mexico and the United States, especially between the San Diego and Tijuana border.
The project was developed by members of the San Ysidro Smart Border Coalition at one of their meetings held at the San Ysidro Community Services Center, on Wednesday, February 8.
The Coalition’s goal is to counteract the nationalistic rhetoric, and to reduce the uncertainty among the region’s residents, something that has already affected the businesses in San Ysidro.
“In Tijuana, there is a lot of bad publicity about President Donald Trump, which is taking a toll on businesses in San Ysidro because visitors are afraid to cross the border,” one of the members of the San Ysidro Smart Border Coalition Edith Robledo. “People are afraid to cross the border because they fear their visas will be taken away and we don’t know if that is really happening or not, but we are seeing the consequences of people not crossing because they are afraid, our sales have fallen by 50 percent, we depend a lot on Mexican visitors.”
Robledo who is also the San Ysidro Swap Meet manager, mentioned that national politics like Trump’s announcement of a 20 percent border wall tax, is something they can’t think of right now, because they are being currently affected by the lack of Tijuana residents border crossings.
“Our worry right now is seeing the same number of border crossers like we used to,” she said. “We are worried about not having shoppers from Tijuana.”
The video component of the project will highlight the positive aspects of the United States-Mexico relationship through data, as well as positive testimonies. The video is planned to be exhibited in different venues, including north San Diego County, Washington, D.C., and Mexico City.