Mr. Trump carried his message of border security to a majority-Hispanic city of 142,000 that has been on the front lines of the surge in Central American families coming into the United States. Preliminary plans are underway to expand some border fencing in parts of the Rio Grande Valley, but McAllen has a well-honed infrastructure to handle migrants, both legal and illegal. Many here have been frustrated that the city has become the symbol of a faraway political debate so entrenched it has shut down parts of the federal government. Ms. Stewart does not believe the border wall Mr. Trump wants to build is necessary, and said there were better ways to improve border security using technology. Many of them were critical Thursday of the president’s visit and said they believed he had manufactured a border crisis to sell his plan for a wall.

Source: New York Times January 10, 2019 23:26 UTC