# Did NAFTA cause the States Illegal Immigration problem?



## Nate (May 10, 2010)

> 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.
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> While there has been some media coverage of NAFTA's ruinous impact on US industrial communities, there has been even less media attention paid to its catastrophic effects in Mexico:
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> ...


http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0425-30.htm

Would abolishing NAFTA help slow the flow of illegal Mexican immigrants?


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## Angelhair (May 10, 2010)

'2 million Mexicans have been forced out of agriculture, and many of those that remain are living in desperate poverty. These people are among those that cross the border to feed their families. (Meanwhile, corn-based tortilla prices climbed by 50%. No wonder many so Mexican peasants have called NAFTA their 'death warrant.'


_If this is so, than the answer is yes it would - somewhat - as poverty is not the only reason so many cross._


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## Lonestar_logic (May 10, 2010)

*Did NAFTA cause the States Illegal Immigration problem?* 

No, a porous border and a impotent federal law did.


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## Nate (May 10, 2010)

Lonestar_logic said:


> *Did NAFTA cause the States Illegal Immigration problem?*
> 
> No, a porous border and a impotent federal law did.



Both logical conclusions but looking at the stats(if you can believe them);



> Falling industrial wages, peasants forced off the land, small businesses liquidated, growing poverty: these are direct consequences of NAFTA. This harsh suffering explains why so many desperate Mexicans -- lured to the border area in the false hope that they could find dignity in the US-owned maquiladoras -- are willing to risk their lives to cross the border to provide for their families. There were 2.5 million Mexican illegals in 1995; 8 million have crossed the border since then. In 2005, some 400 desperate Mexicans died trying to enter the US.


Immigration Flood Unleashed by NAFTA's Disastrous Impact on Mexican Economy

there was a HUGE surge of border crossings after NAFTA went into effect. I know NAFTA can't be completely blamed but looking at the condition of this issue is sure as hell did alot more damage.


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## Lonestar_logic (May 10, 2010)

Nate said:


> Lonestar_logic said:
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> > *Did NAFTA cause the States Illegal Immigration problem?*
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No I don't believe anything coming from commondreams, may as well be citing an article from huffingtonpost.


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## Nate (May 10, 2010)

Lonestar_logic said:


> Nate said:
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## Lonestar_logic (May 10, 2010)

Nate said:


> Lonestar_logic said:
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## Nate (May 10, 2010)

Had to dig a little deeper in the CIS, here's what i came across;



> Large-scale Mexican immigration began growing in the 1960s and "accelerated in the 1970s as the number of Mexicans in the U.S. tripled between 1970 and 1980.  The number doubled again by 1990 and again by 2000.  In 2004, the [Census Bureau's] March CPS shows 10.6 million people born in Mexico [and residing in America].  This figure represents more than a 13-fold increase over the 1970 census."25  Mexicans represent nearly a third of the foreign-born population; this is about three times the proportion of the next three countries of origin (China, Philippines, India) combined.26
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> Mexican illegal migration explains much of the growth in illegal immigration overall.  *"Since the mid-1990s, the number of new unauthorized migrants has equaled or exceeded the number of new legal immigrants.  For Mexico, 80-85 [percent] of new settlers in the U.S. are unauthorized."*27  Half of Mexicans living in America are illegal aliens


Center for Immigration Studies

Focus on the part in bold. This took place after NAFTA was enacted.


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## RetiredGySgt (May 10, 2010)

Amnesty of 2 million Mexicans in 1986 caused the problem.


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## Toro (May 10, 2010)

Nate said:


> Would abolishing NAFTA help slow the flow of illegal Mexican immigrants?



No, of course not.  It would probably make things worse.


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