Marcy Kaptur: “Could I just comment on that to say the reason we have all this illegal immigration from south of our border is because…”

“Could I just comment on that to say the reason we have all this illegal immigration from south of our border is because NAFTA for the Mexican people totally disemboweled their rural countryside. It was planned. We have had over 2 million people who have lost their livelihoods. Peasant farmers. It is a sacrilege on this continent as far as what is going on. And the people have nowhere to go but to try to come up here to get food. They run across deserts. They risk their own lives lives. And why? Because their farmsteads were taken away from them. They have nowhere to go. I tried to get agricultural amendments for transition in Mexico passed when NAFTA was considered. They were disallowed on the floor of this Congress under the Fast Track procedure, and now we are reaping the wrath of that agreement. {time} 2100 Those folks that are coming up here, illiterate, risking everything, for why? To feed their families. That is the reason for the illegal immigration. Unless we fix NAFTA, we are not going to fix the illegal immigration problem in this country. I don't care how many fences they build.”