Posted on 06/30/2005 5:26:31 AM PDT by eakole
"…In 1995, the GATS agreement borrowed a World Trade Organization (WTO) term that describes the process of moving human capital across international borders. This process is called the ìMovement of Natural Persons,î(1) which refers to the entry and temporary stay of human laborers for the purpose of providing ìservicesî for employers. The term ìnatural personsî is an Orwellian euphemism used by the WTO to describe working class people who are considered to be nothing more than mere commodities. Immigration policies restricting the flow of ìnatural personsî would be considered a violation of the WTO rules because borders must be kept open for the movement of these international laborers.
As part of the NAFTA agreement, an embedded visa called the ìTrade-NAFTA (TN) visaî was written to further the movement of ìnatural personsî across the Canadian and Mexican borders. TN visas allow unlimited numbers of Canadians to obtain guest-worker visas while Mexico is restricted to 5,500 visas per year. Those visa limits just changed because the United States, Canada and Mexico are committed to phasing out trade barriers completely by January 1, 2009. The phasing-out process contains a ten-year time bomb that was inserted into NAFTA. The fuse has been lit and itís too late to put it out. Detonation occurred on January 1, 2004 when all restrictions on the TN visa were lifted. Mexico now has the right to send unlimited numbers of TN visa holders to the U.S.(2)
"Potentially a flood of aliens will be able to come into the U.S. by claiming they are Mexican citizens who have jobs in the USA. The TN visa program allows family members into the U.S. so the number of immigrants could be staggering. TN visas arenít very temporary either since they can be renewed in one-year increments forever, or until the alien worker gets a green card. NAFTA is a guest-worker/amnesty bill that allows visa holders to take jobs from 67 different job categories. …"
TN visas are renewable yearly, but holders of TN visas are ineligeable for green cards. The TN visa is a non-immigrant visa while the H1B visa is dual intent: non-immigrant and immigrant. The other issue is that you are required to have a degree in the field of intended employment. You can't come to the U.S. and do any job. It must be related specifically to your degree. Nor is it an amnesty bill. You must apply for the visa when you enter the country. You cannot apply for it from inside the U.S. The author of this article is doing some major spinning and is misrepresenting basic facts.
I read Findlaw's description at:
http://library.findlaw.com/1999/Oct/1/126350.html
and you are quite right. Thank you.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.