Trade & Immigration
Failed Trade Policies at Root of
Immigration Issue
May
3, 2010
On
March 31, 2010, a panel discussion on the topic of the immigration was held by a
student group at Augsburg College in Minneapolis. The Minnesota Fair Trade
Coalition was invited to speak about the root causes of immigration, in
particular the impact of current trade agreements such as the North American
Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in connection to immigration. This forum provided
an opportunity to reflect on the failed trade agreements of the past and the
impacts they have had on workers, farmers, and communities around the world. As
the debate on immigration policy reform gears up, it is useful and important to
re-examine this connection between current trade policy and immigration.
With sixteen years since its enactment, NAFTA offers the opportunity to reflect
on and gauge the impact of such agreements. Prior to the passage of the NAFTA,
proponents claimed such agreements would bring numerous benefits. In the time
since, many have examined the impacts and have found otherwise. Although
proponents predicted that NAFTA would create more good paying jobs in Mexico,
real wages for most workers in Mexico are lower today than before NAFTA was
enacted. Further, as Mexican manufacturers were driven out of business with the
inflow of foreign companies and as these companies began to later relocate to
other countries such as China in search of even cheaper costs of production, the
total number of workers employed in manufacturing in Mexico decreased from 2000
to 2004. At the same time, from the early 1990’s before the enactment of NAFTA
until 2006, more than 2 million agriculture-related jobs were lost in Mexico.
With these conditions and the lack of new jobs to replace those that were
eliminated, migration has increased as people have had to leave in search of
work.
These negative impacts since NAFTA have been felt not only within Mexico, but
also within the United States. In interviews for the Minnesota Fair Trade
Coalition’s Trade Stories Project, displaced workers from various sectors have
shared their stories of job-loss due to companies relocating overseas and the
difficulties of finding comparable work after such layoffs. (To read more about
these stories, visit our Trade Stories
Project page). Through these stories, it is apparent that while
companies may benefit from such moves, workers are often left behind to deal
with the negative consequences of these current free trade policies.
As the debate on immigration reform progresses, arguments of immigrant workers
replacing US workers may be made, but these only obscure the real problem: a
system of trade that has allowed companies to sidestep gains that have been made
in the workplace by continuously moving on to the next cheapest source of labor
to the disadvantage of workers around the world. Rather than allowing tension
between immigrant and nonimmigrant workers obscure the problem, attention should
be given to these free trade agreements as the root cause of the problem. Rather
than continue with NAFTA-style free trade agreements, it is time we change
course and support legislation such as the Trade Reform, Accountability,
Development, and Employment (TRADE) Act. With the more balanced model for
expanding trade outlined in this act, we may finally start to create trade
agreements that produce benefits and create security for working people around
the globe.
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