'Already feeling it in Texas': Mayors in Trump-voting states warn his policies imperil residents

03 August

Arlington, TX Mayor Jim Ross and Lansing (Left) and Lansing, MI Mayor Andy Schor (Right), Images via Screengrab / MSNBC.

President Donald Trump’s policies and Congress’ de facto rubber stamping of his administration threaten the livelihoods of citizens in two major U.S. cities, those cities’ mayors said Sunday,

Arlington, TX Mayor Jim Ross and Lansing, MI Mayor Andy Schor spoke with MSNBC about rising costs facing their constituents, as well as the impact of the president’s immigration policies on crucial industries in their communities.

Schor told MSNBC his city is dealing with rising costs from Trump’s tariffs.

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“We have tariffs — we have 25 percent, 35 percent with Canada,” Schor said. "Canada is our biggest trading partner. And now they’re looking at the potential of cars to be more expensive.”

Asked about a poll that revealed voters think Trump is negatively impacting the cost of living, Arlington's Mayor Ross said his city is “absolutely” feeling the impact of those policies.

“We feel the hit everywhere,” Ross said. “We're already feeling it in Texas. I'll give you a for instance. I’m a restaurateur, and the cost of our products that we’re buying for the restaurants are increasing already.”

“Unfortunately, that cost is passed down to the consumer,” Ross added.

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The Arlington, TX mayor further analyzed Trump’s impact “from an immigration perspective.”

“50 percent of our workforce in construction in Texas are immigrants, and now what we're experiencing are a lot of those workers in construction fearful of going to the job sites and working and not showing up,” he explained.

“Well, when you don't have your workforce showing up to do the work that is needed you delay the project,” Ross said. “When you delay the project, you increase the cost of the project. And when you increase the cost of the project, it's again the end user that suffers the consequences.”

“There are smart people in Congress, and they need to start acting smart,” Ross later added. “I think we're all sick and tired of the bickering, the fighting, the following people blindly because they're fearful of what's going on. People need to stand up and do what's right for this country, do what's right for the communities.”

Watch the full video below or at this link.

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