Here are the facts: In 17 years since NAFTA passed into law, it is estimated that the US has lost nearly 700,000 jobs and that trade surplus is now a over $100 billion deficit, according to records from the US Census bureau. With the passage of NAFTA, we began moving manufacturing jobs to Mexico and companies use this as leverage against the unions to decrease wages and benefits. Also we began bankrupting the local Mexican farmer by exporting corn (highly subsidized by the gov’t) to Mexico and out competing their farmers. The net result was that the number of illegal immigrants, according to dept of homeland security, nearly doubled to 6.65 million from 2000 to 2009.

A wise black free-market scholar Thomas Sowell pointed out that you have to watch the incentives – there is where the deception lies. By the way, this is only Mexico – you should see what we have going on with China (wow). Now we are pursuing new trade agreements with other countries like South Korea.

Lastly, as others have pointed out, it’s a war on drugs destroying the black community by creating an financial incentive local law enforcement and the feds to go on which hunts invading private property without warrant and taking non-violent offenders and teens into hardened criminals through the “justice” system. War = injustice! Mexicans who live in the US can’t go to Mexico because they know that the US war on drugs has made it dangerous to live in Mexico.

Strength through peace and prosperity, free trade without free trade agreements. Ron Paul 2012!

Who was paying cost of health-care, food and education of the immigrant’s children in old times? When did those responsibilities came under government’s arms? Certainly, in early phase of immigration to USA, the people were responsible for getting their education, health-care and much more. This would have impact on the number of people migrate to USA, because there was no attraction like free-goodies, as you mentioned. The history of immigration laws is not comprehensive if not presented side-by-side with history of welfare.

Going with Ron Paul, he is against welfare and he is in favor if getting governments out of business of educating children in exchange of tax benefits. If that happen, then foreign nationals will have much less desire to
move to USA as they wont’t have better life funded by citizens and legal immigrants.

Finally, unlimited immigration is not good for USA, and we need to makeup mind on who we want to come to USA. Politicians are talking about legalizing illegals at the same time we are sending back people with legal Visas and USA born children back to their home country because they are out of work for a few months (its about H1B Visa). Isn’t that weird?

Thanks for the clarification on Texas history with respect to Mexico’s appeal for immigrants from the US and later reneging. It might seem minor in the larger context of Lewin’s article, but I appreciate the correction very much. However, my question is this: Did the introduction of slavery by the Texas/Mexican immigrants lead to Ana’s violation of the Mexican constitution.

This is a significant point for me. As you know new immigrants can commit such egregious violations of a host country’s laws that leaders appear and feel justified in violating their constitutions in order to extract justice. Consider the drone attacks that is targeting and killing (without the usual constitutional “due process”) leading terrorist who are US citizens.

Perhaps there was a similar, if tortured, justification for reneging on certain constitutional guarantees to the Texas/Mexican immigrants. But on your larger point, I slightly agree. The annexation of Texas and the Southwest were technically distinct. However, morally, I have a hard time defending the provocative manner in which the US goaded Mexico into a war my country (the US) knew that Mexico could neither avoid nor win in order to annex the Southwest and ultimately Texas.

I found only one bone of contention: unless you are referring to the editors of the Washington Times, conservative commentators, or the talking heads at Fox and its conservative-minded media affiliates, Perry was not “roundly criticized” by most of whom I would consider to be “experts in the press”. Many of the real experts found this to be one of two important issues with which they agreed with Perry. The other issue of agreement being Perry’s support of forced immunization of young girls to prevent vaginal (cervical) cancer.

Please don’t hold your breath for the rank and file Republicans to accept Perry’s leadership on this immigration issue because he apologized for his “loudest defense” of the immigrant remark before the proverbial ink dried.

Carl Rove and G.W. had already pitched a clear and loud defense of Hispanics in the hope of maintaining the viability of the GOP. The GOP rank and file are not buying it. More importantly, as far as I can tell, the leadership of the Chicanos and Hispanics are not buying it either.

Victor

I vote for Ron Paul because I don’t want to be complicit in the millions of murders our government commits and abets overseas.

I vote for Ron Paul to bring the troops home.

I vote for Ron Paul because I insist on having my civil rights, including all the protections the Constitution guarantees me.

I vote for Ron Paul because my (sister brother mother father husband wife) smokes pot and I don’t want them to go to prison.

I vote for Ron Paul because I don’t want the country to go bankrupt.

I vote for Ron Paul because I feel that ONE layer of bureaucracy is enough.

I vote for Ron Paul because I support competition in government

I vote for Ron Paul because he will get the foot of corporations off the neck of citizens.

Ron Paul is a single position candidate on a multitude of positions. Even if you only agree with ONE of them, it alone is worth electing him.

Regarding in state tuition for undocumented persons those outside of Texas, and even those inside Texas living far from the border, may not realize that the number of undocumented school age children in the state, as a whole, is a large share of the state’s youth population. To deny them this would not only create resentment but help solidify a permanent Spanish speaking underclass.

Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney and others went off on Perry for having the audacity to advocate for these young people. Their chief line of attack was that students from neighboring states who wanted to attend the University of Texas would have to pay $100 thousand more than undocumented students living in Texas.

However, those same supposedly disadvantaged students could go to their own state schools and get reduced tuition rates, and they are not being disadvantaged by being charged more in Texas. Any of the 49 other states would charge them the full rate. Furthermore, it was a collective, overwhelming decision by Texas state legislators on behalf of the people of Texas to treat all children fairly. If they believe in states rights, as they say the do, they should be content with the voice of the people of Texas.

Everyone seems so content to judge the US when it comes to illegal aliens. Strange that NO ONE seems to want to judge the root of these poor peoples problems which is MEXICO! A terrible government which treats it’s people terribly. Everyone with a brain knows that the Mexican people are ruled and controlled by a government who’s leaders are ALL of European decent. Nobody wants to notice that Calderon, Fox and the other leaders all look WHITE and not INDIAN. There are two classes of people in Mexico. The elite (white) and the commoner (Indian.) Why do you and so many give these people a pass? THEY are the cause of the suffering of the Mexican people. THEY are the cause of the rush to our borders. If more people held those folks accountable there just MIGHT be a chance to change the lives of over 100 million people. Instead folks like you blindly lay all the blame at the feet of the US. It is so strange to me that a white Texan like myself needs to call attention to true racism that you, the black man, has missed. Or is it ignored? Black, white, brown, yellow…why don’t we just refer to each other by what we are….people. If the true problem were to be addressed then the “illegal” problem would vanish as the Mexicans would have a country they could survive and prosper in. Who knows, we might even find ourselves wanting to cross the border south one day.

Whenever government interferes with the law of supply and demand, it creates a surplus, a shortage, or both. That’s Economics 101.

The so-called Minimum Wage Law is such a law. It sets an artificial price on labor and thus creates a surplus of legal labor – better known as massive unemployment. Google Walter Williams and Minimum Wage since he explains it much better than I could. The result is a black market if the form of illegal labor. THAT is the main root cause of the illegal immigration problem.

Then there is the War on Drugs or more precisely Drug Prohibition. This creates another black market – along with the gang and cartel violence.

BTW – illegals do pay taxes. They pay sales taxes and they pay into fake Social Security – from which they will never see a dime. In fact, they actually subsidize the social security system.