Saturday, February 2, 2008

Mexico's new bumper crop: More illegal immigrants?


While U.S. politicians talk about building walls along the border and telling undocumented immigrants to "go home," a mass protest Thursday in downtown Mexico City pointed to one of the main causes of illegal immigration: the erosion of Mexico's rural farm economy in recent decades.

Thousands of Mexican small farmers swept into the capital this week, driving tractors and hauling cows (see video). They were protesting the lifting of trade restrictions on agricultural commodities like corn, rice and oats. The farmers say lifting these restrictions will put them out of work, because they won't be able to compete with powerful U.S. agri-businesses, and they're pressuring Mexico's government to renegotiate portions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the United States and Canada.




One major reason for illegal immigration of Mexicans into America is the decline of Mexico's farm economy in recent years. Recently, a mass protest in Mexico City took place to point out the issue.

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