The Giant Sucking Sound?

One-time U.S. presidential candidate Ross Perot famously warned that NAFTA – the North American Free Trade Agreement – would prompt a "giant sucking sound" as American jobs fled south. Now, the concern is that the sucking sound will instead reflect illegal immigrants fleeing north.

With the new year, the last trade barriers on U.S. corn, beans, sugar and milk have fallen, prompting fears that Mexican farmers that can no longer compete will make up a new generation of illegal immigrants, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon doesn't think that will happen, since most imports in those categories were already tariff-free since 2006. Vegetable imports to the U.S. have increased, as Mexican onions, avocados, mangoes and watermelons have competed against U.S.-grown produce.

If the growth in corn exports to Mexico does in fact influence immigration, politicians will have to contend with more than NAFTA. The reason corn is so much cheaper to produce in the United States is that the government subsidizes corn farmers with massive farm bill incentives.

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