Immigration: A Contentious Issue
Wednesday, June 11 2008
I roundly applaud my former editor for her defense of her immigrant neighbors and for her comments on a basic injustice that needs to be addressed.
She was observing on a personal level the results of policy mistakes made during the Clinton administration, compounded by the hard line against immigration the government is now taking.
It all started with the North America Free Trade Agreement which at its inception was supposed to be the magic elixir that would boost the economies of participating nations by allowing the tariff-free flow of goods across the borders. NAFTA, so went the litany espoused by its promoters, would create jobs, protect the environment, and create good will among the entire citizenry from Mexico to the borders of the north Canadian territories.
This much ballyhooed agreement, however, has fallen far short of expectations. According to the Hightower Loiwdown, a small but mighty publication that carefully scrutinizes the flip side of contentious issues, wages in Mexico--which I’m assuming is the home of Louise’s immigrant neighbors--have dropped more than 5 percent, unemployment is on the rise, and 19 million more Mexicans live in poverty than during pre-NAFTA times. And with wage for unskilled workers dropping to as little as $5 per day, it’s little wonder why these folks are setting their sights on the promised land to the north.
Before NAFTA, Mexico’s economy was much more worker friendly. Small, self-sufficient farms were the norm, there were jobs to be had in state owned industries, and there were even government subsidies for such essentials as tortillas. But under the rules of the game as dictated by NAFTA, US corporations such as Wal-Mart, City Bank, Tyson Foods, etc., have moved in and pretty well undercut the homegrown economy. Agra-business giants, by flooding the market with cheap corn and other commodities grown in the US, have made it near impossible for native farmers to compete.
As the immigration “problem” has become more intolerable, the present administration has reacted by finagling $1.2 billion from Congress to construct along the border a monstrous, 17-foot high barrier that will occupy a swath 150 feet wide and stretch for 700 miles. Mexico is understandably outraged, as are Americans whose properties are being encroached upon.
But as long as such deplorable conditions exist below the border, we will continue to have illegal immigrants, and the ICE people will hound them no matter how hard working and likable they may be.
— Roland Micklem, Savannah
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