North American trade deal has not helped Mexico's poor

USA TODAY, May, 2008

The spirited defense of the North American Free Trade Agreement by President Bush and his Mexican counterpart in New Orleans recently ignored an inconvenient fact -- the annual number of undocumented immigrants arriving in the USA from Mexico has risen dramatically since that trade agreement's inception ("Bush defends free-trade policy," USATODAY.com, April 21).

NAFTA's boosters promised that it would create enough jobs to prevent Mexicans from seeking work across the border, but more Mexicans live in poverty now than did in 1994. As opportunities have faded at home, many have followed the dictates of the free market and sought work in America's construction, agriculture and food services industries.

It's past time to renegotiate NAFTA to protect Mexico's most...