A. MARIO CASTILLO: NAFTA and immigration reform
A. Mario Castillo

Saturday, July 10, 2010

SAN ANGELO, Texas — International trade agreements, such as NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), have been touted as the pathway to economic upward mobility for citizens of participating countries. After a political brawl that spanned two presidencies, NAFTA went into effect on Jan. 1, 1994.

The trade talks started under President George H.W. Bush and were finalized under President Bill Clinton. Contrary to the rhetoric of free trade pundits, NAFTA was a marriage of unequal nations. The international ménage Ã* trois pact merged a rich U.S., a strong middle economy Canada, and a Mexico without a dowry other than an abundance of soon to be displaced workers.

In a 2003 opinion column published in this newspaper, I raised questions about NAFTA’s ability to raise the living standards of trade pact citizens. I feared that NAFTA would cause a rise in illegal immigration — a concern dismissed by my Washington Beltway colleagues as pure bosh. Years later, an April, 2009 New York Times article validated my concerns in a story that states, “Leaders (Bush, Clinton, et al) promised the accord would create millions of good jobs, curb illegal immigration and raise living standards from the Yukon to the Yucatán. More than a decade later, the verdict, even among NAFTA’s strongest supporters, is that for those goals free trade by itself is not enough.â€