The United States goes on and on about how open and willing they are to accepting new people into their free country. Yet, when thousands of people move in, to work in American factories, they are not hesitant to kick them out at the first sign of trouble. The only reason these people came to the US in the first place was because of the North American Free Trade Agreement. It had given a perfect chance for the American business market to take advantage of Mexican citizens, exploit them for work, and then take away nearly all of their basic needs.
In Veracruz, Mexico there is a large population of pig farmers, who made their livings by raising the pigs, butchering them and then selling their meat. Once NAFTA was put into place these simple farmers were no longer able to support their families off of their small farms. The market had become so open that American factories were able to mass produce hundreds times more than all of the individual farmers were able to, combined; this made prices too competitive for the family farmers to compete with, forcing them into extreme debt.Many had to sell their animals and land, then move elsewhere where they could find work. These people took very desperate measures to make it across the borders, too; from the article, David Ceja found a coyote to take him across the border. He had to pay thousands of dollars, though, even after his family had been losing money for a long time thanks to NAFTA, just as many families in Mexico had. They were all but physically moved to North Carolina to work for next to nothing wages, in terrible conditions and receive no benefits at all. Then when they petitioned for their rights they were threatened with deportation. So, after the US brought them in for their cheap labor they were kicked back out the second that they tried to gain their equality, which is why immigration should be maintained.
The article by Cecilia Menjívar states, “...the receiving governments of Canada and the United States follow in encouraging immigrants to become citizens and in this way shape their political incorporation.” Obviously they want to welcome these new citizens, they just do not want a bunch of under the table deals to get them here without documentation; however, like in Cuba, many of these people weren’t even wanted in their home countries. Castro stated, “...as long as other countries provided for these individuals they could leave…” So, even though they would need proper paperwork to participate in government, have jobs with the needed benefits, and never have to worry about keeping their heads low to avoid deportation, they didn’t necessarily have the time needed to go through all of these processes. They would also save a lot of money from being thrown into the underground network, which would keep both countries safe by depleting the amount of funds they have for weapons, recruitments and drugs. In short, if immigrants just went ahead with the legal paperwork the right way, then they could become respected members of society, have very honest livings in America and help both countries benefit their economies, respectively.
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