[...] Continuing the discussion at Cato Unbound on Mexicans In America, Stephen J. [...]

I’m not against free trade, I’m just against unethical applications of free trade.

I should stick to things I don’t know much about. It seems like this is when I am at my best.

I too disagree with Trejo on this point, this article articulates most of my complaints far better than I could.

As far as NAFTA goes, we’ve went over that ad nauseum before. Suffice it to say that there is not a single country in the history of man that went from poor to developed without accepting free trade. Granted, free trade is not the panacea, but without it Mexico would have no chance of escaping poverty. Free trade is a necessary but not sufficient factor in escaping poverty. If you want to blame something for the negative side effects of NAFTA, blame the Mexican government.

Michael,

Good point.

Also, why all of the focus about the Mexican border. Again I do not have statistics about this but many illegal immigrants that I am aware of do not cross the border illegally from Mexico. They simply get a tourist or student visa requiring them to stay 6 months then just never leave disappearing into society. I feel there is some scape-goating of Mexicans in this debate. Why build a wall on the border. I would imagine that in lieu of the hundreds of dollars mexicans are paying to have smugglers arrange to sneak them across the border, they could simply buy a plane ticket and never leave like hundreds of thousands of Asians, Dominicans, Jamaicans, South Americans, Central Americans, Eastern Europeans have been doing. Again I have not been following this too closely but it seems like all of the focus has been on th Mexican border, but what steps do people suggest to avoid overstaying their visas?

I’ve always been a fan of solving problems at their source, rather than treating symptoms. What is the source of illegal immigration? Ask anybody who comes here to live… things are better there, there is more money, opportunity, great schools, beautiful neighborhoods, etc. Can anybody blame them?

The way I see it, if our corporations have no borders they have to respect, why should the people respect them as well?

Also, why has Mexico suffered? It’s an amazing place full of intelligent, hard-working people who just like anybody else want the best for themselves and their families. Mexico, unfortunately, has been subjected to corrupt government interested in selling out their own people for the benefit of the small rich class of mostly foreign investors and entrepreneurs. Where does the money go to? Look at NAFTA, for example. This totally raped the agriculture in Mexico and forced over a million small farmers off of their land. Who benefitted and where does the money go to? Obviously not the poor farmers who have either gone to work at low paying sweatshop jobs in the city or over the border both legally and illegally. Obviously not the consumers who, despite the fact that produce market prices are only a fraction of what they were pre-NAFTA, have seen consumer prices double and triple for food. The multi-national American-based corporations have benefitted immensely and the money and resources have yet again been reallocated north of the border while conditions have worsened for the people directly and indirectly affected by all of this.

On the surface things have improved somewhat in Mexico but there is still a huge mass of poor people and the disparity between the US is still great enough to tempt people to cross over illegally. Sure, we can pound our chest and say we have earned our wealth but lets not forget who has carried the weight of our spoils.

My solution would be to end all of this market dumping bullshit, cheap sweatshop labor, etc. If an American company has free reign in a foreign market, they should work under the same standards they would in the states… pay decent living wages, provide working conditions compatible with our own laws, respect strict environmental standards, work under the same anti-trust guidelines, and also… if American corporations have free reign there, Mexican workers should have free reign here. I think that is fair. If money has no borders, why should the people it controls?