North American Unfair Trade Agreement

I am too young to remember when it became so popular to make a big deal about illegal Mexican immigrants.  From what I can tell, the numbers of illegal aliens have been dramatically increasing since the mid 1990s.  Is it a coincidence that NAFTA was founded in 1994, at the beginning of this dramatic increase?


What is NAFTA?  The North American Free Trade Agreement allows the trading of goods (but not workers) across national lines.  NAFTA is the installment of a free market between Canada, the United States, and Mexico.  This particular free market is an experiment that has never been tried before.  Is it working yet?


A Brief History:  During a United States labor shortage, thousands of agricultural workers from Mexico were welcomed to this country between 1917 and 1929 as guest workers.  The guest worker program was discontinued during The Great Depression for obvious reasons, and the U.S. Border Patrol was created to protect American interests.  There was another labor shortage during WWII, and the guest worker program was reopened.  The program lasted until 1964 when Congress discontinued it based on reports of ill treatment of workers.  The guest worker program was replaced by the H-2 Visa, a temporary and seasonal worker program that was revised after NAFTA to include miles of classic bureaucratic hoops.


What has changed in Mexico since NAFTA?  Another Brief History: For several decades, Mexico was building internal wealth and growing its middle class by emphasizing community service, by governing the regulation of prices, and by protecting nationally owned businesses.  Mexico had to change its constitution to join NAFTA, and as a result many agricultural workers in Mexico have been displaced.  To keep up with with the new free market, Mexican farmers suddenly had to compete with farmers in the United States.  The average farmer in Mexico is not able to afford to compete with Iowa, so many Mexican farmers are flocking to the cities to find work.  When there is no work to be found in Mexican cities, the displaced farmers must go elsewhere.  To the descendents of the Aztecs who grew corn as a part of their religion, Mexican farmers feel as though joining NAFTA equaled denying their religion.


How does NAFTA change American Life?  Business owners now have the freedom to buy and sell to their advantage, and many have already moved their businesses into Mexico where labor is cheaper.  As manufacturing jobs are relocating to Mexico, illegal immigration is showing decline in recent years, and the unemployment rate in the United States is growing steadily.  In the United States as well as in Mexico, the gap between the poor and the rich is widening.


What happens next?