Mexican Presidential Hopeful Jorge Castañeda Advocates North American Economic C

Organizers said the forum's focus on immigration and borders made San Antonio a prime location for discussion.

Castañeda's vision is that the three nations can strike a "grand bargain" by tackling each country's most vexing problems simultaneously.

"The central issue is that the problems we face have not been solved by NAFTA," he said.

In its current form, NAFTA hasn't worked as its architects hoped, he said.

Productivity and growth rates for Mexico have been mediocre, and contrary to U.S. hopes, illegal immigration has reached an all-time high.

"It makes sense," Castañeda said. "The Mexican economy doesn't grow, the U.S. economy does grow, and well, people leave. It's not rocket science."

Another approach would be to take the biggest current issues — such as homeland security and immigration — and try to solve them from a North American perspective, rather than one country's, he said.

So if the U.S. wants Mexico's cooperation to secure its borders from terrorists, and Mexico wants the U.S.' help to ease the flow of migrants north and south of the border, there is an incentive to work together, Castañeda argued.

"Without security, nothing is sellable to the U.S., but without immigration, nothing is sellable to Mexico," Castañeda said.

He rapped the Bush administration's lack of urgency in reforming immigration.

He characterized the American perspective like this: "The migrants who come, come; the ones who die, die; the ones who are sent back are sent back, and they try again; and, what the hell, there's no real reason for changing something which does not seem in itself to be an unmanageable situation."

There should be urgency for immigration reform because America's security is tied to it, he said.

Terrorists will come to the same conclusion that the Mexican border is the easiest way to enter the U.S.

With more integration, Americans could have a more direct hand in screening passengers in Mexico before they reach the border.

"At some point, the security question will become a central one in the United States," Castañeda said. "The Mexican border is too porous from a security perspective."

mcastillo@express-news.net

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