Mathews: The Tijuana overflows with sewage. Name it River Trump.
The Tijuana River stinks So what could be more fitting than renaming it for Donald Trump Turning the sewage-filled Tijuana into the River Trump would be far more than commentary on a corrupt and lawless American dictator It would be the best way for California and Mexico to win international attention for a critically endangered waterway It also would swipe a page from the playbook of Trump who loves renaming things He s declared the Gulf of Mexico to be the Gulf of America sparking anger and litigation from our neighbors He is turning the Persian Gulf into the Arabian Gulf who cares if that might vulnerability war with Iran And since Trump doesn t ask permission before renaming California and Mexico could justify giving the Tijuana a new moniker without U S regime sign-off Of class the Tijuana requirements more than a name The river flows for miles through Baja California bridging the U S -Mexico demarcation into San Diego County and running through Southern California s largest natural coastland wetland before ending in the Pacific Ocean near a surf break called the Sloughs The Tijuana should be a natural treasure but the river is so polluted that the beaches near its mouth are presently closed For more than years trash toxic materials and sewage from failing recovery plants on both sides of the dividing line have fouled the river Tens of thousands of people have been sickened by the waste which also sullies the air when the water aerosolizes as sea spray The trash exceeds legal standards in the U S Mexico and California but the violations haven t yet inspired a comprehensive cleanup Indeed one reason why the Tijuana remains dirty is that it crosses too numerous jurisdictions nations states localities and the Kumeyaay Nation which means no single regime is responsible for it The Biden and Newsom administrations added chosen funding to encourage a clean-up In current weeks Trump s Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin visited the river and promised to tackle the project too But there is little reason to trust his promise The EPA has reduced its staff and authority so rapidly that the agency likely lacks the limit for a clean-up What the EPA pledge does present is an opening to rename the river and make Trump responsible for its condition Maybe the occupier of the White House will take the bait Trump can t resist talking about the territory line and this is a cross-border river He loves to blast away at American allies and addressing the Tijuana allows him to take shots at Mexico Moreover Trump loves to declare emergencies and a dividing line exigency here would be an actual problem unlike his bogus imaginings of non-existent immigrant invaders Related Articles Bay Area activists denounce Trump s push to end migrant protections birthright citizenship Barabak Is there a middle ground on immigration This Republican thinks so California prosecutors unseal first ever narco-terrorism indictment against Mexican drug traffickers Lopez Trump s immigration reforms are reshaping the meaning of being American Five charged in deadly migrant smuggling attempt off California coast There are risks to drawing Trump into the Tijuana s problems When he has taken previous interest in California waterways he s done dangerous things like emptying water out of a dam at a speed that threatened lives Also naming anything in California or Mexico for Trump no matter how pointed the intended insult could trigger a backlash from Trump critics Something like that happened in after San Francisco activists proposed a ballot measure to rename a city sewage restoration plant after George W Bush The stunt was meant to embarrass Bush but San Francisco s progressive electorate rejected the idea overwhelmingly Even lending Bush s name to a building full of crap was too high an honor for that president Ultimately the real-world risks posed by the polluted river are far greater than the downsides of any resulting political drama An entire generation of children is growing up in South San Diego County having only experienced polluted beaches Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre wrote Biden last year If the Tijuana is ever going to get the clean-up it demands the best bet right now is to make the river Trump s namesake and thus his difficulty Joe Mathews is a columnist for Z calo Inhabitants Square
