A silver lining to all this uproar is possible. NAFTA was never perfect, but neither its game-changing benefits nor its imperfections were ever treated sensibly in public debate. Now, President Trump's intense focus on NAFTA and the willingness of his administration to renegotiate it furnishes an extraordinary opportunity to rebrand North American trade, commerce and security while addressing the issues that were either too hot to handle in the 1990s or didn't even exist then.

To many in this corner of Mexico’s Northwest and the U.S. Southwest who understand the power of our binational trade and commerce, this lost productivity is just unacceptable. Our hemisphere’s busiest border crossing is “dumb” and slow when what is needed is a “smart” border. As a result, San Diego and Tijuana business and academic leaders formed an organization to focus on this problem. We call it our Smart Border Coalition.

Under the leadership of the Belfer Center's Juliette Kayyem, the Homeland Security Project will focus on the challenges in protecting the U.S.

Security Perimeter Podcast with Alan Bersin on US borders and immigration.