Trump threatens to shut the Mexico border. California companies say that would create chaos

When President Trump issued yet another ultimatum to Mexico to stop a caravan of would-be refugees early Monday, he coupled it with an ominous threat: "We will close the Border permanently if need be. Congress, fund the WALL!"

In Torrance, Karen Quintana, president of the Los Angeles Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Association, was perplexed. "He can't mean trade as well," she said. "He just meant people, right?"

But the prospect that a border shutdown might halt goods crossing the border - and not just immigrants, a frequent target of Trump's ire - was not unthinkable. "You have to take it seriously,"