Mexican restaurants in Connecticut would feel the impact of a U.S.-Mexico border shutdown.
Economists are warning of price hikes and product shortages if President Donald Trump follows through on his threat to close the southern border.
“I think it would hurt you know the Mexican restaurants and everybody who likes Mexican food,” Stephany Uriostegui form New Haven said.
For lunch Thursday at Mezcal restaurant near East Rock, she ordered a traditional fried tortilla Mexican dish called chilaquiles.
“It actually doesn’t come with avocado,” she said, “I always choose to add avocado because I just love avocados.”
Avocado prices have already gone up since the president made the border shutdown threat on Twitter.
“Avocado and lime are the main products that we import from Mexico and they get to be very expensive sometimes,” Mezcal’s owner Ricardo Trejo told NBC Connecticut.
Local
Trejo also serves Mexican tomatoes, jalapenos and chipotle and his bar is stocked with tequila and mescal from his home country.
“A border shutdown for business, well it will mean that I will have to raise the prices a lot and I don’t know if the people are going to be willing to pay for it,” Trejo said. “I mean people are going to complain.”
Trejo said the quality of food on his menu could suffer without fresh ingredients.
“If they close the border we are going to have to buy the dried avocado that we just add water and make guacamole,” he said.
The president Thursday offered an alternative to a complete border shutdown as he puts pressure on Mexico to stop the flow of drugs.
"The only thing, frankly better but less drastic, than closing the borders is to tariff the cars coming in,” President Trump said. “And I will do it. Just like you know I will do it. I don't play games. I will do it."
Trejo said he worries how a shutdown would hurt communities along the U.S.-Mexico Border.
“And a lot of Mexican Americans, a lot of people who live near the border are into business with Mexico, relatives over there, family members over there, they import/export all the time so they are going to be in more trouble,” Trejo said.
