Reply #19: The illegal immigrants that are swarming the US from Mexico

[RagingInMiami]

are a direct result of NAFTA, the trade policy that was designed by American conservatives. I'm sure Mexico's "foreigners" are not poverty-stricken and forced to emigrate as a result of a Mexican-designed trade policy.


Farmers in Mexico have opposed and still oppose NAFTA because the heavy agriculture subsidies for farmers in the United States have put a great deal of downward pressure on Mexican agricultural prices, forcing many farmers out of business. Wages there have decreased by as much as 20 percent in some sectors. NAFTA's approval was quickly followed by an uprising amongst Zapatista revolutionaries, and tension between them and the Mexican government remains a major issue. Furthermore, NAFTA was accompanied by dramatic reduction of the influence of trade unions in Mexico's urban areas. NAFTA has been accompanied by a dramatic increase of illegal immigration from Mexico to the United States; presumably, a significant fraction of these people are farmers forced off their land by bankruptcy. Opposition to NAFTA also comes from environmental, social justice, and other advocacy organizations that believe NAFTA has detrimental non-economic impacts to public health, the environment, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Free_Trade_Agreement