Perhaps because it is not what you say it is...
:lightbulb:
:shock:
The following paragraphs are taken from page 48, pdf file from the CFR.org site, link below, for the complete read of that report:
http://www.cfr.org/content/publications/attachments/NorthAmerica_TF_final.pdf
page 48 (The texts was justified in the pdf format, however, when pasting here some of the spacing is mixed.)
Increase Labor Mobility within North America
People are North America’s greatest asset. Goods and services cross
borders easily; ensuring the legal transit of North American workers
has been more difficult. Experience with the NAFTA visa system
suggests that its procedures need to be simplified, and such visas should
be made available to a wider range of occupations and to additional
categories of individuals such as students, professors, bona fide frequent
visitors, and retirees.
To make the most of the impressive pool of skill and talent within
North America, the three countries should look beyond the NAFTA
visa system. The large volume of undocumentedmigrants fromMexico
within the United States is an urgent matter for those two countries
to address. A long-term goal should be to create a ‘‘North American
preference’’—new rules that would make it much easier for employees
to move and for employers to recruit across national boundaries within
the continent. This would enhance North American competitiveness,
Recommendations 27
increase productivity, contribute to Mexico’s development, and address
oneof the main outstanding issues ontheMexican-U.S. bilateral agenda.
Canada andtheUnited States should consider eliminating restrictions
on labor mobility altogether and work toward solutions that, in the
long run, could enable the extension of full labor mobility to Mexico
as well.
WHAT WE SHOULD DO NOW
• Expand temporary migrant worker programs. Canada and the
United States should expand programs for temporary labor migration
from Mexico. For instance, Canada’s successful model for managing
seasonal migration in the agricultural sector should be expanded to
other sectors where Canadian producers face a shortage of workers
and Mexico may have a surplus of workers with appropriate skills.
Canadian and U.S. retirees living in Mexico should be granted
working permits in certain fields, for instance as English teachers.
• Implement the Social Security Totalization Agreement
negotiated between the United States andMexico. This agreement
would recognize payroll contributions to each other’s systems,
thus preventing double taxation.
WHAT WE SHOULD DO BY 2010
• Create a ‘‘North American preference.’’ Canada, the United
States, and Mexico should agree on streamlined immigration and
labor mobility rules that enable citizens of all three countries to
work elsewhere in North America with far fewer restrictions than
immigrants from other countries. This new system should be both
broader and simpler than the current systemofNAFTAvisas. Special
immigration status should be given to teachers, faculty, and students
in the region.
• Move to full labor mobility between Canada and the United
States. To make companies based in North America as competitive
as possible in the global economy, Canada and the United States
should consider eliminating all remaining barriers to the ability of
their citizens to live and work in the other country. This free flow
of people would offer an important advantage to employers in both
countries by giving them rapid access to a larger pool of skilled labor,
and would enhance the well-being of individuals in both countries
by enabling them to move quickly to where their skills are needed.
In the long term, the two countries should work to extend this
policy to Mexico as well, though doing so will not be practical until
wage differentials between Mexico and its two North American
neighbors have diminished considerably.
Building a North American Communityof people would
offer an important advantage to employers in both
countries by giving them rapid access to a larger pool of skilled labor,
and would enhance the well-being of individuals in both countries
by enabling them to move quickly to where their skills are needed.
In the long term, the two countries should work to extend this
policy to Mexico as well, though doing so will not be practical until
wage differentials between Mexico and its two North American
neighbors have diminished considerably.
• Mutual recognition of professional standards and degrees.
Professional associations in each of the three countries make decisions
on the standards to accept professionals from other countries. But
despite the fact thatNAFTA already encourages themutual recognition
of professional degrees, little has actually been done. The three
governments should devote more resources to leading and creating
incentives that would encourage the professional associations of each
of the three countries to develop shared standards that would
facilitate short-term professional labor mobility within North
America.
Support a North American Education Program
Given their historical, cultural, geographic, political, and economic ties,
the countries ofNorth America should have the largest and most vibrant
educational exchange network in the world. Currently, we do not.
Despite the fact that Mexico is the second-largest trading partner
of the United States, it ranks only seventh in sending students there.
In 2004, only 13,000 Mexican undergraduate and graduate students
attended U.S. universities. Similarly,Canada is the largest trading partner
of the United States but ranked only fifth in educational exchanges,
with 27,000 students in the United States compared to 80,000 students
from India, followed by China, South Korea, and Japan. The number
ofMexicans studying in Canada remains very low—about 1,000. And
although American students study all over the world, relatively few go
toMexicoandCanada.Thesenumbers shouldbeexpanded dramatically
to deepen familiarity and increase knowledge in each country.