There have been conferences, academic papers, mock student parliaments and secret meetings on a confederation of the U.S., Canada and Mexico into future North American Union, but, until now, few officials of any of the three countries have publicly called for the creation of a European Union-style merger.
Nor have they called for returning to European colonies. Same reason, too.
In a panel discussion on U.S.-Mexico relations last Tuesday at the University of Texas at San Antonio, Enrique Berruga, Mexico's ambassador to the United Nations, came right out and said a North American Union is needed – and even provided a deadline. Berruga said the merger must be complete in the next eight years before the U.S. baby boomer retirement wave hits full force. The discussion of was organized by the UTSA Mexico Center and the San Antonio campus of Mexico's National Autonomous University.
Noting that both countries depend on each other economically, Berruga urged leaders to put petty politics aside for the region's benefit. He said the U.S. should abandon plans to build border fences and instead "invest" more in Mexico so the country can do a better job standing on its own. "We will be together forever and we need to make the best out of it," Berruga said, as reported in the San Antonio Express News.
Another panelist, economist Mauricio Gonzalez, who works for the North American Development Bank, created as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, explained that illegal immigration was actually good for the U.S. economy. While it's true, the said, that the immigrants bring down wages in the U.S., it is only by about 2 percent
and besides, they aren't his wages.
In addition, he cited studies showing illegal immigrants do not drain U.S. social services.
SO a law banning them would be no problem. Es verdad? |