As I mentioned earlier. if you go anywhere in my district. you will see a lot of abandoned mills. What used to be vibrant. a lot of workers working there. they are no longer there today. The other issue that is very important. and Congresswoman SAiNCHEz actually touched upon it. is immigration. I know the Senate has been talking about immigration quite a bit. We will be talking about it soon. But before I vote for any immigration bill. I will look to see if they are taking care of the fundamental problem in immigration. and that problem is trade. If you look at the reasons why a lot of undocumented immigrants are coming from Mexico to the United States. they are coming across the border to get a job. And the reason why they are coming across the border to get a job is because they are living in substandard conditions in Mexico. Lets go back a few years to when NAFTA was passed. One of the arguments why we should pass NAFTA was because all boats will rise here in the United States and in Mexico. And by raising the boats in Mexico. the workers that come across the border illegally will stay because they will have their jobs. they will earn good wages. and there is no need to come across the border. As a matter of fact. at the time Madeline Albright made comments and encouraged Congress to support NAFTA because it will help solve our illegal immigration problems. and she went on to say if it doesnt solve them or help solve them. then we know it is a failed policy. Well. it is a failed policy. It hasnt helped. It has gotten worse. And this is something. when we talk about immigration. we have to make sure we take care of that fundamental flaw. and that is with our trade deals. If it means voting against the rule when immigration comes up. I am prepared to do that because this issue is so important that we need to change the direction. We have got to get off this slippery slope if we are going to make this country continue to grow.
Keywords matched
immigrants illegal immigration immigration undocumented