, to date, not a single enforcement action has been leveled against an offending country nor a targeted practice abolished. Nineteen (19) submissions have been brought forward under the NAALC: twelve against Mexico, six against the United States and one against Canada. None of these have resulted in fines against the offending country. Although the right to organize is a universally recognized fundamental human right, under the NAALC, failure by Mexico, Canada and the U.S. to enforce the right to unionize is not a punishable offense.It is widely recognized that the institutions established under NAFTA's environmental side agreement have failed to ameliorate the infamous environmental degradation along the U.S.-Mexico border. Since NAFTA was enacted, Mexico still has not begun to collect data on environmental pollution, in violation of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation, the environmental side deal. The problems of pollution, toxic waste and other public health threats cannot be identified and addressed until data is collected and analyzed.Meanwhile, the explosion of the maquiladora employment has exacerbated public health crises along the border; 500,000 people on the U.S. side of the border live in colonias (unincorporated settlements), many of which lack running water and sewage systems.Consequently, there is clear and convincing evidence that NAFTA is not in the best interest of the United States. Whether arguing on the economic front, public health or safety issues, or environmental impact, I opine that this lassize-faire trade arrangement was poorly constructed and implemented. Investment capital is leaving this country, and I assert that there has been and will continue to be an overall decline in our country's standard of living. Something must be done about this situation now, before it develops into a disaster for all parties concerned. I firmly believe that NAFTA has the potential to damage our nation'...
