Yes, the US is guilty, but not because of NAFTA. It is guilty because of not enforcing our laws.
We had an illegal problem long before NAFTA was ratified.

Mexico itself has an illegal immigrant problem with Guatemala. Some of those are en route to the U.S. but not all. Quite a lot of them are-gasp!-taking jobs away from Mexicans in the area. How are they dealing with it?

The root cause of illegal immigration isn’t NAFTA, it’s a lack of opportunity in their home country.

In the US, the divide between rich and poor is stark (Gini index 45) – in Mexico it’s worse (Gini index 50.9). This doesn’t mean that Mexico has more super rich people than the US (although Carlos S. Helu is richer than Bill Gates) – it’s that their poor people make US poor people look rich. In the US, 12% are below the asset poverty line – in Mexico 40% are. In the US, we don’t have a statistically measurable number of people who don’t have enough food – in Mexico that rate is 13.8%.

The simple fact is, the majority of Mexicans are born poor, and will die poor. Their economy simply doesn’t generate enough jobs that pay a decent wage. If they stay in their home country, they will probably be employed, and (most likely) have enough money to feed themselves. But the possibility of getting ahead isn’t even pondered. They have no opportunity to advance in life.

What does it take for a person to leave their family, their home, and risk everything to illegally enter a foreign country? Hope. Hope for a better life. They know that if they stay in their own country, they have almost no chance to better their lot in life – but the US – that’s the “land of opportunity”.

So how do you fix the problem of people coming here for work? Create more jobs in Mexico. Ironically, despite the authors railing against NAFTA, it has created jobs in Mexico.

Also ironically, the author complains of the US flooding Mexico with cheap corn – driving Mexican farmers out of business. On this point she is a few years behind the times. The US is now using corn to make ethanol, to help us move to more renewable sources of fuel. This new demand has increased the price of corn, and instead of “flooding Mexico” with it, we use it ourselves. This means two things – the Mexican farmer now gets more for his crops than ever before, and the poor in Mexico are hungrier. There is a tough choice for us here – do we feed the worlds poor, or enrich their local farmers? It can’t be both.

One thing is for sure, people like the author will blame the US – no matter which choice we make.

Ms. Urbina, the U.S. doesn’t have an immigration problem. We have a foreign invasion problem. If you are, indeed, a teacher please, for your students’ sake, consider changing professions. Please stop teaching students to put emotions ahead of logic and political correctness over reason. Please stop contaminating young minds with the notion that U.S. taxpayers could, or should, provide free education to the world’s poor children if their parents will just violate our borders and break our laws to get them here.

Preachers preach what to think; teachers teach how to think. Darla, I urge you. If you want to “enrich everyone’s lives” become a preacher and leave teaching to those who want to educate, not indoctrinate.

Wonder how many illegal immigrants Darla is willing to support at her pad?

What does it say about our education system when folks like Darla are able to become teachers?