WESLACO – Business owners, residents and a congressman have voiced their opinion about President Donald Trump’s executive actions about building a border wall.

Downtown Brownsville store owner, Daniel Hong, said the devaluation of the peso has already cut Mexicans’ buying power in half. The peso exchange rate is about 23 pesos for a $1.

He said 80 percent of his business comes from Mexican shoppers that cross into the U.S. looking for better quality products at a good price. He’s hoping the existing border fence along Brownsville and other parts of the Valley will shift the focus of the new border wall to other parts of the country.

“It’s more of Trump’s rhetoric or Trump’s policy that’s bringing down my business because he took the Ford plant from San Luis Potosi, that’s going to affect their economy big time. It’s not just that they are losing the Ford plant; they are losing all the plants that are going to supply that Ford plant. So I mean if he’s going to be stifling business in Mexico, that’s not good news for me,” he said.

Hong said he’s also hoping Trump won’t implement measures to hurt Mexico’s economy because the less money people make in Mexico, the less wiling they are to come to the U.S.

The president’s immigration policies also have people who cross the border worried about the future. One Mexican national said she’s less concerned about the wall and more concerned about how Trump’s policies will affect the peso.

“It’s not going to be like it used to be. They’re not going to want to cross. We aren’t going to be able to afford to cross,” Marcilina Rodriguez said.

She said she and her friends will have to start spending their money in Mexico.

Meanwhile, U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar has also voiced his concerns about the potential U.S.-Mexico border wall.

He called out Trump stating that at no point does the president mention a wall on the entirety of the southern border.

“If you look at the executive order by Trump, in many ways it’s a show, it really is a show. He doesn’t say 1,954 miles, he just says fencing or wall then the operational control,” Cuellar said.

The congressman mentioned the Border Patrol chiefs that he’s spoken to disagree with Trump. He said they deem a wall or fence unnecessary along the entire border.