Posted on 07/04/2005 3:11:53 PM PDT by hedgetrimmer
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman, outlining the lawmaker’s serious concerns with the nearly 1,000 page-long Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).
“This agreement opens America’s borders to a lot more than sugar and bananas,” said Tancredo, “This agreement, as drafted, will effectively give people from El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic a de facto right to work in the United States.”
The agreement comes on the heels of prior trade agreements with Singapore and Chile, both of which also included provisions liberalizing immigration law.
Despite continued insistence by CAFTA’s supporters that the deal does not include immigration provisions, the plain language of the agreement suggests otherwise.
Tancredo pointed to Chapter 11 of the agreement, which stipulates that, “Cross-border trade in services or cross-border supply of services means the supply of a service…by a national of a party in the territory of another party.” The agreement goes on to say that the U.S. must ensure that, “measures relating to qualification requirements and procedures, technical standards and licensing requirements do not constitute unnecessary barriers to trade in services,” and are “not in themselves a restriction on the supply of the service.”
“This agreement will allow foreign companies to challenge our immigration policies in international CAFTA tribunals and argue that the laws impede their ability to access the U.S. service sector,” said Tancredo. “That would force Congress to change our immigration laws, or subject our businesses to trade sanctions.”
“If this agreement is approved, the ‘exclusive’ power of Congress to regulate immigration policy will be subjugated to the whim of international tribunals – the same way that Congress ceded its once supreme Constitutional authority to ‘regulate commerce with foreign nations’ to the WTO.”
FYI, "free movement of persons" cannot be stopped under WTO rules.
CAFTA will allow foreign companies (primarily US) to open shop in the other countries. It does absolutely nothing to change immigration laws of any country. To argue otherwise is to lie.
It says something about CAFTA when its opponents have to resort to these tactics.
Thank God for Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) for catching this and making it public. We certainly do not need to weaken our borders. I am a Republican but I sometimes wonder about Bush and his gang.
Wasn't it G.W.'s father from whom we first heard the term "new world order"? G.W.is going to move hell and high water to give us his version of the new world order, eastern liberal Republican style.
George may play the Texan but he is a blue blood through and through.
In CAFTA:
PREAMBLE
The Government of the Republic of Costa Rica, the Government of the Republic of El
Salvador, the Government of the Republic of Guatemala, the Government of the Republic
of Honduras, the Government of the Republic of Nicaragua, and the Government of the
United States of America, resolved to:
Article 1.3: Relation to Other Agreements
1. The Parties affirm their existing rights and obligations with respect to each other
under the WTO Agreement and other agreements to which such Parties are party.
Just in case you can't figure it out, that means that the Uruguay Round and the Doha round rules for "free movement of persons" are affirmed under CAFTA.
The USA is recommitting to following WTO rules on "migrants" (illegal immigrants). I do not lie.
CAFTA is just another screw job for American workers. Time to lock down the borders. Time to repeal NAFTA !
You got it right. G.W.s father, G.W, Carter, and Clinton all in on the big scam. New World Order.
Does this mean the illegal Guatemalans will now take the jobs away from the illegal Mexicans that are here now?
Only if the illegal Hondurans don't get them first.
Utter nonsense is a perfect definition of CAFTA.
How counld anyone sign a document that states that,
“measures relating to qualification requirements and procedures, technical standards and licensing requirements do not constitute unnecessary barriers to trade in services,” and are “not in themselves a restriction on the supply of the service.”
So... no longer do OUR "FREE TRADE PARTNERS" have to be qualified, or licensed or meet technical standards.
Tancredo for President.
Yes, if they underbid them in their labor costs.
"Free trade" ensures that unlimited labor forces from third world nations can move in and undercut the people who are working here now, legally or illegally.
Even Cesaer Chavez was against illegal immigration. The newly arrived illegals could always be counted on to undercut wage gains made here by the very lowest skilled and lowest paid workers.
No provision of the Agreement shall be construed to impose any obligation on a Party regarding its immigration measures.
I don't think it can get any clearer than that.
We need to scuttle this. While we are at it, anyone want to reserect the Bricker Ammendment?
Which btw creates a permanent underclass of people. That is why we see immigrants from some nations never making it very far up the economic food chain here, no matter how long they've been here.
Really.
Then what is your response to #7?
Post 14 is my response.
Painting some big John Birch Society end of the world scenario over what is actually a fairly small trade agreement is nuts. Why didn't you go bonkers like this when we signed a free trade agreement with Australia? Or Jordan, for pete's sake.
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