Speech #1100057955

NAFTA held a great promise to provide workers in Mexico and the United States a livable wage. It simply hasnt lived up to that promise. Illegal immigration has increased. The number of undocumented Mexican workers who live in the United States has skyrocketed in the NAFTA era from an estimated 1 million in the mid1990s to about 6 million today. While many people talk about closing down the U.S.-Mexico border. few care to confront the root cause of this issue: the failure of the NAFTA model to provide sustainable livelihoods for workers in Mexico. Over 1 million Mexican farmers lost their livelihoods due to NAFTAmandated agricultural policy changes. Wages declined for workers. These are just some of the reasons why one in ten Mexican citizens have made an often dangerous border crossing to the United States. NAFTA is a failed model. It Is time that we change the model.