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But once one understands that the recent landslide in undocumented workers is directly related to NAFTA and other central and south American trade agreements,
I do not understand the connection you are making. And even if there were some influence of NAFTA, how do we know it is the primary factor? It seems like immigration has been around for a very long time before NAFTA. And past immigration (both legal and not) has been more closely associated with economics. And particularly associated with economic stress in the areas of emigration and economic opportunity in the areas of immigration.
He is probably referring to the claim that because of NAFTA, US subsidized corn drove Mexican corn farmers (mainly indigeneous people) off the land, who then headed north to take jobs in the border factories and in the US. Of course, as you point out, illegal immigration was a routine matter long before NAFTA. It, at best, simply added to the already heavy migration to America, but was by no means the cause of it. Yours, Issodhos
I understand that Americans don't want to take personal responsibility for the huge increase in undocumented workers over the last decade, but facts are facts and you can either ignore them or educate yourself.
The impact on corn farmers was only one small part of why NAFTA increased illegal immigration. Furthermore, while undocumented workers have always existed, the massive increase happened after NAFTA.
Immigration Flood Unleashed by NAFTA's Disastrous Impact on Mexican Economy by Roger Bybee and Carolyn Winter
The recent ferment on immigration policy has been so narrow that it has excluded the real issue: family-sustaining wages for workers both north and south of the border. The role of the North American Free Trade Agreement and misnamed 'free trade' has been scarcely mentioned in the increasingly bitter debate over the fate of America's 11 to 12 million illegal aliens.
NAFTA was sold to the American public as the magic formula that would improve the American economy at the same time it would raise up the impoverished Mexican economy. The time has come to look at the failures of this type of trade agreement before we engage in more and lower the economic prospects of all workers affected.
