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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: A blast from the past: Mexican President Salinas says NAFTA would slow illegal immigration Mexican President Salinas says NAFTA would slow illegal immigration Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service; 9/21/1993; Schrader, Esther SAN FRANCISCO _ Acknowledging that the fate of the free trade pact between Mexico and its northern neighbors is imperiled, Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari argued here Monday that approving the treaty would slow illegal immigration into California. During an unabashed sales trip to promote the trade deal on which he has staked his country's economic future, Salinas argued that ``migration to the United States will be drastically reduced with more free trade between the U.S., Mexico and Canada.'' Speaking to a conference of international business leaders from 63 countries, Salinas argued that enactment of the North American Free Trade Agreement, by creating a richer, more stable Mexican economy, would spur environmental and political reform in Mexico, open a mother lode of new markets for international entrepreneurs and create incentives to keep Mexican citizens from moving across its northern border. ``We want trade, not aid. It is trade that will provide us with the opportunity to invest more, to create new jobs in Mexico,'' Salinas said in a speech to the International Industrial Conference at the Fairmont Hotel. ``We want to export jobs, not people. ... My fundamental responsibility is creating the conditions for jobs to be open to the Mexican people, so they will use their talent, their courage, their risk-taking ability to help build the Mexican economy, and not the economy of some other country. ... If there are more jobs in Mexico, they will stay home.'' Salinas chose to address the immigration question directly while in San Francisco, aides said, because California politicians have recently turned up the heat on the volatile issue. Gov. Pete Wilson is leading a drive to crack down on illegal immigration to the United States from Mexico, proposing to deny schooling and health care to illegal immigrants and their children in California. And the state's two U.S. senators, Democrats Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, are talking tough to immigrants and speaking out against the free trade agreement. ``(Salinas) wanted to come into town to do a little NAFTA campaigning; it's obvious,'' said presidential spokesman Leonardo Ortiz. ``He said three months ago that he knew it was going to be a hard fight and he wanted to come up here and lobby. Because of the opposition of both California senators and the volatility of the immigration issue, San Francisco was the perfect place to get our face out there.'' By lowering tariffs and other trade barriers among Mexico, Canada and the United States, the North American Free Trade Agreement would create the world's largest free trade zone, comprised of 360 million people, with a combined gross national product of $6 trillion. The agreement and its side pacts on labor and the environment have been signed by the presidents of the three countries but cannot be ratified without approval from their legislatures. The hesitation of congressional Democrats to support the pact has jeopardized its approval, despite the endorsement of President Clinton. Under the terms of the agreement, if the pact is not ratified by Jan. 1, 1994, it is open to amendments from legislatures that could dilute it. With the Clinton administration reportedly set to submit its controversial health care reform act to Congress before the free trade pact, prospects for early passage look dim. In recent months, Texas businessman Ross Perot has launched a high-profile anti-NAFTA campaign that has generated a warm response from those who believe free trade could lead to the loss of American jobs and the exploitation of Mexican workers. A group of about 100 critics of the agreement gathered outside the hotel Monday, many holding placards from Perot's political movement, United We Stand, America. Inside, Salinas met only with groups that support his initiatives. He wasted little time indicating to those supporters that he is desperate for their aid to help sway Congress. Striding purposefully into a tony, private reception before his lunchtime address, the Mexican president smiled politely at the chairmen of Chevron Corp., Hewlett Packard, NEC, the Deutsche Bank and Bank of America and at U.S. officials, but made a beeline for former Secretary of State George Shultz. ``We're all for the pact, Mr. President,'' Shultz said, pumping Salinas' hand with a cordial smile. ``You say you're all for it? `All for it?' How `all for it' are you?'' Salinas asked unsmilingly, keeping Shultz' hand in a tight grasp. ``We're going to need `all for it' _ we've got a fight ahead.'' After the speech to the business group, the Mexican president met privately with Peter Sutherland, director general of the General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the global trade regimen, and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco, which has lobbied state and federal officials in favor of the trade agreement. Later he met with University of California officials and visited an exhibit of Mexican artifacts on temporary display at the De Young Memorial Museum, before leaving in the evening for meetings in Brussels, Belgium, with officials of the European Community. COPYRIGHT 1993 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service
Poster Comment: 9/21/1993
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#2. To: Sam Houston (#0)
i saw your comment and wondered if you had seen this article?
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