Download Mexico Points of Entry Affirmative Novice Table

Points of Entry Affirmative
Urban Debate League 2013-14
Novice
Mexico Points of Entry Affirmative Novice Table of ContentsSummary ....................................................................................................................................... 2
Glossary......................................................................................................................................... 3
First Affirmative Speech .............................................................................................................. 4-8
Modernizing Points of Entry Boost Economy ................................................................................. 8
Answers to: Mexico Not Key to US Growth .................................................................................... 9
Answers to: Mexican Economy is Broken .................................................................................... 10
Answers to: Jobs Turn .............................................................................................................. 11-2
Answers to: Maquiladora Turn- Alternate Causality ..................................................................... 13
Maquiladoras Good- Economy .................................................................................................... 14
Maquiladora Good- Poverty ......................................................................................................... 15
Answers to: No Solvency – Coordination ..................................................................................... 16
Answers to: No Solvency- Regulatory Issues .............................................................................. 17
Answers to: No Solvency- Infrastructure Investment Fails ........................................................... 18
Answers to China Crowd Out
United States engagement in Latin America is durable ............................................................... 19
United States won’t crowd out China ........................................................................................... 20
United States won’t crowd out China- Extensions ....................................................................... 21
Chinese Influence Bad- Latin America growth and stability ......................................................... 22
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Points of Entry Affirmative
Urban Debate League 2013-14
Novice
Summary
This affirmative argues that the United States should work with Mexico to modernize points of
entry along the US-Mexico border.
First, , it will increase trade between the United States and Mexico by allowing goods to travel
more swiftly between each country. This trade is necessary for economic growth and job
creation, improving the quality of life for residents in both countries.
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Glossary
Competitiveness- the ability of a country to sell goods in a given market
“Gang of Eight”- a bipartisan group of 8 Senators working together in Congress to craft an
immigration bill that can gain enough Democratic and Republican support to pass
Hegemony- leadership exercised by one nation over others
Illicit- another word for illegal or against the law
Life expectancy- how long a member of a community is predicted to live based on their
likelihood of dying from various causes like disease or other factors
Membranes- A thin, pliable layer of tissue covering surfaces or separating or connecting
regions, structures, or organs of an animal or a plant.
Petroleum- a naturally occurring thick black substance that can be distilled into gasoline,
motor oil, jet fuel and many other uses
Points of entry- A place where people and goods can legally cross from one country to
another
Regulatory- a system of rules set up by the government to guide operations of a specific
industry or activity
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Points of Entry Affirmative (1/4)
First, the current state of afffairs on the US-Mexico border.
Border corssings are not a priority. The United States’ focus on securing the entirety of the
US-Mexico border means that Points of Entry into the country are underfunded. This causes
massive delays when crossing from country to country.
Bloomberg News May 2013
“Border Delays Cost U.S. $7.8 Billion as Fence Is Focus” By Amanda J. Crawford 5/14/13
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-15/border-delays-cost-u-s-7-8-billion-as-fence-is-focus.html
U.S. investment has remained focused on controlling the rest of the border between the
crossings, including remote areas such as the Arizona desert. In the past decade, the number of
Border Patrol agents more than doubled while the number of Customs and Border Protection
officers, who staff the ports of entry, has remained at about the same level, according to a
report by the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute and partner institutions.
Congressional funding for the areas between the ports has eclipsed that for the authorized
entry points since 2007, even though the crossings have faced enhanced security
requirements, increasing trade and evidence that drugs and dangerous individuals are more
likely to cross there, according to the Mexico Institute report. That focus continues in the current
immigration debate in the Senate. The plan crafted by the so-called Gang of Eight bipartisan
senators, which is being considered by the Judiciary Committee today, aims to secure Republican
support by tying immigrants’ path to citizenship to the ability of the U.S. Border Patrol to stop
90 percent of illegal traffic across the southern border between the official ports of entry.
There is no similar metric for the efficiency or security of the land ports. ‘Less Attention ’ “The
way the border is currently run is costing the U.S. a lot in terms of jobs and the economy,”
said Christopher Wilson, an associate with the Mexico Institute and co-author of his group’s report
on border trade. “In the context of the current immigration debate, we are very focused on what
is going on between the ports of entry while this major issue, which is about security but also
about jobs and the economy, is getting a lot less attention.” Focusing politically on the rest of
the border is easier than facing the challenges of running effective ports of entry, said Steven
Camarota, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based group
critical of increased immigration. While the land ports probably do need more investment in
infrastructure, there also should be much more stringent security, including entry and exit checks to
catch those who overstay legal visits, he said. “It seems to some extent we put too much emphasis
on the ease of movement across the border,” Camarota said. “The border is not simply an
obstacle to be overcome by businesses and travelers. It is the part where our country begins,
and it is vitally important for security and immigration control.”
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Points of Entry Affirmative (2/4)
These slow downs are costly to the entire country,. Properly functioning border crossings are
necessary to expand US trade with Mexico. Increasing trade will result in thousands of new
jobs and economic growth.
O’Neil, Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, 2013
(Shannon, “U.S. Exports Depend on Mexico ” Latin America’s Moment January 11
http://blogs.cfr.org/oneil/2013/01/11/u-s-exports-depend-on-mexico/)
Surprising to many Americans is the importance of the United States’ trade with Mexico. While
Asia captures the headlines, U.S. exports to Mexico are double those to China, and second only
to Canada. And while many of these goods come from border states—Texas, Arizona, New Mexico,
and California—Mexico matters for much more of the union. Seventeen states send more than 10
percent of their exports to Mexico , and it is the number one or two destination for U.S. goods
for nearly half the country. The graph below shows those states most economically dependent on
our southern neighbor–notice that South Dakota and Nebraska outpace New Mexico and California.
These flows are only accelerating. During the first ten months of 2012 exports heading south grew
by $17 billion dollars (or 10 percent) compared to 2011, reaching a total of $181 billion. They include
petroleum products (some $17 billion worth) and intermediate goods such as vehicle parts,
electrical apparatuses, industrial supplies, metals, and chemicals (over $40 billion combined).
Spurred on by deep supply chains, these pieces and parts move fluidly back and forth across the
border (often quite a few times) before ending up as finished goods on store shelves in both
countries. The uptick should be seen as a good thing. According to economic studies, these
exports support some six million American jobs (directly and indirectly). But to continue this
dynamism, the United States and Mexico need to improve border infrastructure and facilitate
flows. This means expanding border crossings and highways, and harmonizing regulations
and customs to make the process easier and faster. Prioritizing and investing in bilateral trade
will provide greater opportunity and security–for U.S. companies and workers alike.
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Urban Debate League 2013-14
Novice
Points of Entry Affirmative (3/4)
Economic growth is good for everyone. Growth increases life expectancy, education and
quality of life while allowing the government to fund programs for the public good.
Furchtgott-Roth, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and former chief economist of the
U.S. Department of Labor, 2013
(Diana, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and former chief economist of the U.S. Department
of Labor, “Only Growth Can Sustain Us” New York Times, February 14,
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/01/16/when-growth-is-not-a-good-goal/only-growth-cansustain-us)
Economic growth raises standards of living for rich and poor countries alike. The more
growth, the better.
In developing countries, higher G.D.P. growth results in lower infant mortality, running water,
sewer systems, electricity, better schools and education for children, as can be seen from
comparative World Bank data. As electric power plants replace wood stoves, the air is cleared of
smog. As girls receive more education, birth rates naturally decline as women choose to make use of
their human capital by entering the labor force.
In developed countries, economic growth gives us the tax revenue for cleaner air and water,
for missile defense, for health and education programs. Stringent Environmental Protection
Agency regulations do not come cheap. Republicans and Democrats both have extensive wish
lists for favorite government programs, and the only way to pay for these is from the tax
revenue from economic growth.
Here in America, we have all the food we can eat, and more clothes than we can fit in our closets. At
the same time, we’re seeing deteriorating family structures that reduce educational
performance. About three-quarters of poor families with children are headed by a single parent. Poor
children may have cellphones, but they need competitive schools (like KIPP) to make sure they do
not fall behind.
Our parents and grandparents are requiring more support as their life expectancies increase.
People who live into their 80s and 90s need not just more medical services, but more technology
and health aides to be comfortable at home. This also takes economic growth.
Henry Thoreau may be right that we can find God in nature. But it takes economic growth to keep
nature pristine and all of us healthy enough to enjoy it.
Thus, we propose the following plan:
The United States federal government should cooperate with the government of Mexico to
modernize points of entry along the US-Mexico border.
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Points of Entry Affirmative (4/4)
Finally we will explain how our plan resolves this problem.
Mexico is a ready and willing partner for border infrastructure improvements, but the United
States has to act first. Improving border crossing will lead to millions in new trading
opportunities.
O’Neil, Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations , 2013
(Shannon, “Mexico Makes It: A Transformed Society, Economy, and Government” March/April 2013
Foreign Affairs http://www.cfr.org/mexico/mexico-makes/p30098)
. Admittedly, this process has sent some U.S. jobs south, but overall, cross-border production is
good for U.S. employment. There is evidence that U.S. companies with overseas operations
are more likely to create domestic jobs than those based solely in the United States. Using
data collected confidentially from thousands of large U.S. manufacturing firms, the scholars
Mihir Desai, C. Fritz Foley, and James Hines upended the conventional wisdom in a 2008 study,
which found that when companies ramp up their investment and employment internationally,
they invest more and hire more people at home, too. Overseas operations make companies
more productive and competitive, and with improved products, lower prices, and higher sales,
they are able to create new jobs everywhere. Washington should welcome the expansion of U.S.
companies in Mexico because increasing cross-border production and trade between the two
countries would boost U.S. employment and growth. Mexico is a ready, willing, and able
economic partner, with which the United States has closer ties than it does with any other
emerging-market country. Familial and communal ties also unite the United States and Mexico. The
number of Mexican immigrants in the United States doubled in the 1980s and then doubled again in
the 1990s. Fleeing poor economic and employment conditions in Mexico and attracted by labor
demand and family and community members already in the United States, an estimated ten million
Mexicans have come north over the past three decades. This flow has recently slowed, thanks to
changing demographics and economic improvements in Mexico and a weakening U.S. economy.
Still, some 12 million Mexicans and over 30 million Mexican Americans call the United States home.
For all these reasons, the United States should strengthen its relationship with its neighbor,
starting with immigration laws that support the binational individuals and communities that already
exist in the United States and encourage the legal immigration of Mexican workers and their families.
U.S. President Barack Obama has promised to send such legislation to Congress, but a strong antiimmigrant wing within the Republican Party and the slow U.S. economic recovery pose significant
barriers to a comprehensive and far-reaching deal. Nevertheless, the United States and Mexico
urgently need to invest in border infrastructure, standardize their customs forms, and work to
better facilitate legal trade between them. Furthermore, getting Americans to recognize the
benefits of cross-border production will be an uphill battle, but it is one worth fighting in order to
boost the United States' exports, jobs, and overall economic growth.
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Points of Entry Affirmative
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Novice
Modernizing Points of Entry Boost Economy
[
] Infrastructure related POE delays cause billions of economic losses across all
economic sectors
Immigration Policy Center 5/12/13
“A border fence will hurt the economic relationship of Mexico and U.S.” Posted on VOXXI
http://www.voxxi.com/border-fence-economic-relation-mexico-us/#ixzz2TJmDyq16
Longer wait times at land ports of entry, due in part to heightened security along the border, can
have a number of economic effects. Longer border crossing wait times may deter people from
choosing to cross the border in terms of shopping trips or other optional crossings (particularly the
case for the busiest crossing areas in bi-national metropolitan regions such as San Ysidro and Otay
Mesa, both near San Diego/Tijuana, El Paso/Ciudad Juarez, Laredo/Nuevo Laredo and
McAllen/Hidalgo/Reynosa). Longer wait times equate to fewer border crossings, less spending in
cross-border communities and potentially fewer job opportunities in service industries in
those communities. Manufacturers and production facilities in the United States who rely upon a
just-in-time delivery model of inventory management can be significantly impacted by delays their
cargo carriers encounter at the border. In some cases, severe delays of needed components can
cause production-line shutdowns and a subsequent backlog of orders. Long wait times also
lead to more congestion, and more air pollution, at border stations. Such outcomes have
significant social, economic and environmental health concerns for border crossers, port of
entry employees and border residents. 47 land ports of entry facilitate hundreds of billions of
dollars in U.S.-Mexico trade every year. Improved infrastructure at the land ports of entry
along the southern border, including additional traffic lanes and processing personnel, would
allow more efficient border crossing. These improvements translate into direct economic
benefits to border communities and states.
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Points of Entry Affirmative
Urban Debate League 2013-14
Novice
Answers to: Mexico Not Key to US Growth
[
]
[
] Opening up transport between the US and Mexico can help bring jobs back to
America and increase manufacturing in the both countries
Hernandez, logistics expert and former central Mexico regional director at Autotransportes de
Carga Tresguerras SA de CV 2012
(Enrique Almanza, “Mexican Logistics Expert Discusses NAFTA Roadblocks and Cross-Border
Trucking Restrictions”, June 26, http://www.supplychainbrain.com/content/world-regions/latinamerica/single-article-page/article/director-of-mexican-carrier-discusses-nafta-roadblocks-and-crossborder-trucking-restrictions/)
SLATON: Your company is a Mexican nationwide less-than-truckload and full truckload carrier. You
maintain interchange freight agreements with U.S carriers and offer border crossing and full service
coverage throughout the United States and Canada. What are your thoughts on how NAFTA or other
U.S. or Mexican transportation legislation might affect your long-term opportunities and prospects?
HERNANDEZ: Ground transportation is of significant economic and strategic importance to
North American trade - especially as reshoring and nearshoring start to take hold. In 1995,
NAFTA was set up to liberalize freight transport across Mexico, the United States and Canada;
encourage infrastructure investment; and secure speedy, efficient flow of goods across North
America. But NAFTA's limited success has led to a partial and inadequate integration of the
supply chains between Mexico and the rest of North America, where goods do circulate, but
without the necessary speed or efficiency. Today, transporting a product amongst the NAFTA
countries can easily involve freight handling or information exchange between three to four different
stakeholders (carriers, brokers, custom-house agents, etc.), each of which adds to delays and
higher supply chain costs. This ultimately increases overall inventory levels and the final
product prices. These repercussions affect both the competitiveness of the products
transported between NAFTA regions and the transportation services; impede opportunities to
reach new markets; and eliminate the incentives for transport companies to be more efficient,
innovative and competitive - a goal any company should strive towards if they want to excel in a
larger market with tougher competition.
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Points of Entry Affirmative
Urban Debate League 2013-14
Novice
Answers to: Mexican Economy is Broken
[
]
[
] Sustained growth opportunities can transform the Mexican economy.
Rubio, director general of CIDAC (Center of Research for Development) 2013
(Luis, “Mexico Matters: Change in Mexico and Its Impact Upon the United States”, Wilson Center
April 12 http://wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/rubio_mexico_matters.pdf)
Thoughts about how to overturn the status quo often end up with proposals for reform that do not
solve the problems but nonetheless have the effect of raising expectations to untenable levels. Many
of the proposed economic reforms do not address the relevant problems. The same is true in the
political arena: most reform proposals are not designed to give access to citizenship but to
redistribute power among those who are already powerful and in control of key levers of power or
wealth. There is a direct link between democracy and markets but, as Carlos Heredia argues, “In
Mexico we have something, but not a free market.”2 The country is stuck between the remains of the
old political system and a protected industrial sector next to a highly modern, productive and
successful forward-looking export sector oriented toward the global economy. This cohabitation has
not been a happy one and the government has been incapable of creating a competitive environment
where all companies, as well as citizens and their organizations, have a reasonable chance of
success. Mexico’s true challenge dwells in stopping contesting the past and moving on to the
future. An improved economic outlook would help move the country away from endless
ideological bickering and, as Einstein would have it, once one starts riding a bicycle, “to keep
your balance you must keep moving”. The key to the future lies in breaking the inertia and
creating a momentum. The recipe for success lies not in specific changes, but in creating
conditions that make it not only possible, but inevitable. All successful nations share three
common denominators: effective leadership within proper counterweights, clarity of purpose, and
continuity. A new administration is always an opportunity to break away from both the real and the
mental hindrances to change. Peña-Nieto has before him a huge challenge, but also an immense
opportunity.
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Points of Entry Affirmative
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Novice
Answers to: Jobs Turn
[
]
[
] Increased border efficiency stimulates manufacturing growth in the US
O’Neil, Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR),
2013
(Shannon, “Economic Change on Mexico’s Horizon”, Latin America’s Moment,
http://blogs.cfr.org/oneil/2013/03/26/economic-change-on-mexicos-horizon/)
And we’ve already seen a lot of investment, particularly with U.S. manufacturers in Mexico,
despite many of the country’s problems. Many factories in the United States depend on those in
Mexico—there are pieces and parts that are crossing the border every day that allow a
company, in the end, to create a globally competitive product. This is already the reality, but
the question going forward is: Can the United States make the most of this and make it even
easier for these companies to grow by facilitating trade with Mexico? Rather than thinking about
cutting back this trade, we should recognize that Mexico helps support U.S. workers because
trade grows the overall pie for these companies. A rising tide on both sides of the border lifts
all boats.
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Points of Entry Affirmative
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Answers to: Jobs Turn
[
] Border improvements would have a multiplier effect – they could stimulate economic
growth across multiple sectors
Wilson & Lee 2013
Erik, Associate Director at the North American Center for Transborder Studies (NACTS) at Arizona
State University, Christopher E, Associate at the Mexico Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International
Center for Scholars “INTRODUCTION” The State of The Border report: A Comprehensive Analysis of
the U.S.-Mexico Border Border Research Partnership May 2013
http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/mexico_state_of_border.pdf
Though far from easy to achieve, success in managing the intense interaction and incredible
diversity that make up the border is invaluable. It ripples outward. Of course, the 15 million
people that live in the counties and municipalities along the border benefit enormously when the
border is working. So do the 91 million residents of the border states who depend on the air, water
and commerce that flow across the border. But far beyond the border, the six million people
throughout the United States and many millions more in Mexico with jobs supported by
bilateral trade depend in a very real way on the border’s ability to safely facilitate binational
flows of people and goods. For them, an efficient border means a steady job, and an even more
efficient border can lead to greater employment opportunities. Indeed, the competitiveness of the
entire North American economy depends on the border. Should major advances in border
management take root, the benefits of a better border have the potential to ripple out even
further. Cross-border cooperation could send a signal that the complex transnational
challenges that characterize the 21st century are better met in a context of mutual respect and
shared responsibility than one of conflict and nationalism. Border management is difficult, but it
is worth the effort.
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Points of Entry Affirmative
Urban Debate League 2013-14
Novice
Answers to: Maquiladora Turn- Alternate Causality
[
]
[
] Companies are relocating due to cheaper labor costs, not production costs.
Ruelas-Gossi, Professor of Strategy and Director of Adolfo Ibañez School of Management ,
2010
(Alejandro, “Mexico's Maquiladora Syndrome”, Harvard Business Review Blog Network, 10-15,
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/10/mexicos_maquiladora_syndrome.html)
In recent times, Mexico's maquiladora industry has started losing out to countries with even
cheaper labor forces such as China, Malaysia, India, and Vietnam. Policy-makers in those
nations may want to remember Mexico's experience, but the change may not be a bad thing if it
forces Mexican companies to increase the numerator by becoming more innovative and strategic for
the next 200 years.
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Points of Entry Affirmative
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Novice
Maquiladoras Good- Economy
[
] Maquiladoras boost economies and provide jobs for Mexican growing work force.
Beck, Proferssor of International Business at UT- Pan American, 2012
(Allan, “Forces Driving Maquiladoras Along The Border Of Mexico And The United States: A Short
Communication, December”,
http://www.cluteonline.com/journals/index.php/IBER/article/view/7415/7483, date accessed 7/2/13,)
By 1965, the Bracero, or guest worker, program ended in the United States and the Border
Industrialization Program was established by Mexico as a means of replacing lost jobs by attracting
investments and creating opportunities by setting up a process that allowed temporary import duty
free and only taxing the value of added portion of transactions (Eldenberg, Roman, & Teruya, 2007).
The Border Industrialization Program laid the groundwork for the maquiladora program, which was
legally established in 1971. Many U.S. companies started manufacturing on the northern border of Mexico
because the arrangement allowed companies to take advantage of the lower Mexico wage rate.¶ The
arrangement worked well and manufacturing became an important part of the Mexican economy. The
maquiladoras represent a good source of foreign direct investment and earnings for many Mexican citizens
(Truett and Truett, 2007). Recent downturns in maquiladora employment has hurt the economy because
the continual growth experienced until 2000 was creating the required one million jobs a year to keep up
with the new young worker additions from population growth (Walkkirch, Nunnenkamp, & Alatorre
Bremont, 2009). The border area also had an abundance of workers as it attracted laborers from well
within the interior (Mendoza, 2010).
[
] Manufacturing jobs lift Mexican workers out of poverty.
Sterman, investment analyst, 2012
(David, “Forget China: Mexico Is A Better Investment”, Seeking Alpha, February 12,
http://seekingalpha.com/article/359721-forget-china-mexico-is-a-better-investment)
Rising exports are creating myriad benefits from Mexico. First, thousands of workers are
finding jobs in factories each year, pushing them from subsistence living into the lower
middle class. That boosts demand for all consumer-facing businesses. Second, the firms that
transport goods are seeing a rise in business. Lastly, the government is able to secure rising tax
receipts, which is crucial when you consider that government-owned energy giant Pemex is seeing
falling output in key energy fields, leading to reduced remittances to the government.
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Points of Entry Affirmative
Urban Debate League 2013-14
Novice
Maquiladora Good- Poverty
[
] Maquiladora’s help raise wage levels for entire region, overall improvement for
workers in border region.
Coleman, Department of Geography at UCLA, 2005
(M., “U.S. statecraft and the U.S.–Mexico border as security/economy nexus”, Political Geography,
Vol. 24, Issue 2, February, p. 185-209,
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096262980400126X)
Our analysis has demonstrated that foreign investment and export production have a positive
effect on wages in Mexico: Not only do foreign and export-oriented firms pay workers
significantly more than other firms even after controlling for other relevant firm and worker
characteristics, but they also appear to raise regional wage levels.15 It might at first seem difficult
to reconcile these positive effects of foreign and export firms on workers’ wages in Mexico with the
harmful effects of foreign investment and export production found by researchers using cross-national
research methods. Over the past two decades, researchers in the dependency theory tradition and
many others have found foreign direct investment and export production to be associated with
increasing levels of inequality at the national level (Bornschier and Chase-Dunn, 1985 and Alderson
and Nielsen, 1999). However, the results of our statistical analysis are actually consistent with those
of researchers using cross-national research methods. As we noted earlier, foreign firms may
increase income inequality even while they raise wages. They may increase inequality in three
different ways: First, by paying higher wages, foreign firms create a gap between workers employed
in the foreign and domestic sectors. Second, our analysis further revealed higher wage premiums for
workers in higher occupational groups. By raising the wages of white-collar workers and managers
more than those of blue-collar workers, foreign firms may therefore be worsening an already unequal
income distribution. Finally, the results of our spillover models suggest that workers in regions
of the country with a greater presence of foreign investment receive higher wages. Since
foreign firms are more likely to operate in certain states such as those located near the US
border, foreign investment flows may also be increasing inequality across regions. All these findings
are highly suggestive of a positive association between foreign investment and income inequality in
Mexico. However, a proper test of the effect that foreign firms have on the income distribution
requires more detailed information than currently available in our surveys. Our study does, however,
demonstrate that foreign investment may simultaneously raise average wage levels and increase
inequality, thereby reconciling findings from previous studies.
15
Points of Entry Affirmative
Urban Debate League 2013-14
Novice
Answers to: No Solvency – Coordination
[
]
[
] Cooperation on border crossing can overcome coordination issues.
Regan, Commander, U.S. Coast Guard, 2011
(Sean, Commander, “U.S. – MEXICO POLICY COORDINATION AN ASSESSMENT OF THE
TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY BORDER POLICY COORDINATION EFFORT” A paper submitted to the
Faculty of the Naval War College in partial satisfaction of the requirements of the Department of Joint
Military Operations, http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a555536.pdf)
Each department and agency has distinct purposes and authorities that span issues ranging from
law enforcement to commerce management. Sporadic and disjointed efforts result in departments
working toward common end-states (i.e. improved POE development) but doing so in an
uncoordinated and non-supporting manner. National efforts to synchronize a whole-ofgovernment approach have been haphazard. Across the border, the GoM has its own
bureaucratic structure but suffers from the same challenges. These federal-level challenges are
both independent of and repeated within, the numerous state and local agencies that have their own
policies and processes. Enhancing coordination among the stakeholders involved in the
crossing process provides an opportunity to achieve many benefits including increased
security, and reduced system costs through a predictable and coordinated policy structure.
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Points of Entry Affirmative
Urban Debate League 2013-14
Novice
Answers to: No Solvency- Regulatory Issues
[
]
[
]
Border delays impose a higher cost on business than truck regulations.
United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce, 2011
(“U.S.-MEXICO TRUCKING ISSUE WHITE PAPER”, http://www.usmcoc.org/papers-current/4Trucking-Issue-White-Paper.pdf)
The U.S.-México Chamber of Commerce strongly supports the passage and implementation of
the 2011 Trucking Pilot Program. We believe that any barriers to trade are harmful to the
economic well-being of both countries and thus should be removed. This pilot program,
however, is just one piece of the puzzle for making the border more efficient and agile. There
are still severe wait times for cargo trucks crossing from México into the United States,
costing
both countries billions of dollars every year. Some ideas for addressing this issue include, but
are not limited to:
• Opening up more border crossings for both people and goods;
• Extending the already existing crossings’ operating times to include evening hours;
• Requiring customs brokers on both sides to be open for business and to carry out the
export and import procedures at all times when the border is open;
• Altering the trusted shipper (such as C-TPAT) lanes so that they are completely separate
from the rest of the crossings, thus truly making them express lanes;
• Increasing the number of pre-border inspection and clearance sites, where cargo destined
for the United States is inspected in Mexico.
Finally, we would stress that border security should not be compromised by the implementation
of any of these next steps.
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Points of Entry Affirmative
Urban Debate League 2013-14
Novice
Answers to: No Solvency- Infrastructure Investment Fails
[
]
[
] Increasing resources for border infrastructure will allow effective transit and
security.
Pacheco, Executive Director of the International Business Accelerator, 2012
(Jerry “Efficient border crossings crucial to trade” ABQ Journal
http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2012/08/06/biz/outlook/efficient-border-crossings-crucial-totrade.html)
The U.S., Mexico and Canada are trade partners under the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA), which has helped create a trade bloc of 460 million people with a combined output of more
than $17 trillion. Since its implementation in 1994, trade among the NAFTA partners has grown
by 460 percent, making North America one of the most successful and dynamic trade blocs in
the world. However, wait times to cross the U.S.-Mexico border result in billions of dollars of
lost revenues and time every year, impinging on our region’s competitiveness. This happens
both at the commercial and retail level, as millions of Mexicans cross the border into the U.S.
for shopping, entertainment and visiting family. Excessive crossing delays dissuade these
trips. The Port of Santa Teresa has traditionally been a port known for rapid crossings, but as trade
volume and the number of people crossing increases, it is becoming as congested as other busy
ports along the U.S.-Mexico border. A renovation is currently taking place at this port to add two more
private vehicle lanes and one more commercial crossing lane, which should help alleviate waits in the
future. Expediting trade and border crossings is an issue discussed by politicians less than
the hot-button issue of security. However, for the economic future of all three NAFTA countries
this is an issue that merits more focus. It behooves the U.S. government to provide CBP with
the tools, personnel and infrastructure it needs to continue guarding our nation’s borders,
while working with this group to develop quicker ways of moving people and merchandise.
18
Points of Entry Affirmative
Urban Debate League 2013-14
Novice
United States engagement in Latin America is durable
[
] US influence in Latin America’s resilient and the theory of their argument is wrong
Duddy and Mora, Former US Ambassador to Venezuela and former Assistant Secretary of
Defense,Western Hemisphere, 2013
[Patrick and Frank, “Latin America: Is U.S. influence waning?” Miami Herald, 5/1/13
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/01/3375160/latin-america-is-us-influence.html#storylink=cpy]
Finally, one should not underestimate the resiliency of U.S. soft power in the region. The
power of national reputation, popular culture, values and institutions continues to contribute
to U.S. influence in ways that are difficult to measure and impossible to quantify. Example:
Despite 14 years of strident anti-American rhetoric during the Chávez government, tens of thousand
of Venezuelans apply for U.S. nonimmigrant visas every year, including many thousands of Chávez
loyalists.¶ Does this mean we can feel comfortable relegating U.S. relations with the hemisphere to
the second or third tier of our international concerns? Certainly not. We have real and proliferating
interests in the region. As the president and his team head to Mexico and Costa Rica, it is important
to recognize the importance of our ties to the region.¶ We have many individual national partners
in the Americas. We don’t need a new template for relations with the hemisphere as a whole or
another grand U.S.-Latin America strategy. A greater commitment to work more intensely with
the individual countries on the issues most relevant to them would be appropriate. The United
States still has the economic and cultural heft in the region to play a fundamental role and to
advance its own interests.
19
Points of Entry Affirmative
Urban Debate League 2013-14
Novice
United States won’t crowd out China
[
] No trade-off – the plan facilitates a three way relationship – that helps all countries.
Shaiken et al, Professor in the Center for Latin American Studies at UC-Berkeley, 2013
[Harley, and Enrique Peters – Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Miami. And
Adrian Hearn – Centro de Estudios China-Mexixo at Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico.
China and the New Triangular Relationships in the Americas: China and the Future of US-Mexico
Relations, 2013. Pg 7-8]
The analysis of Ping Wang highlights that in the Mexico-US-China triangular trade relationship,
the United States is the key player. While China’s presence has increased, the United States
remains a critical influence on both Mexico and China. Furthermore, the author suggests that
China’s rise and emergence in terms of trade and investments in LAC, and specifically in
regards to this triangular relationship, will slow increasingly in the future, considering its
specialization in industrial commodities and products, rising wages in China, and the high number of
multinational corporations involved in Chinese exports. For Ping Wang, the politically and
historically subordinated role of Mexico with the United States, in contrast to China’s
increasing regional and global status, is a basis for understanding future scenarios in which
the Mexico-United States relationship is more stable in comparison to that of China and the
United States (where the US, for example, views China as a threat).
20
Points of Entry Affirmative
Urban Debate League 2013-14
Novice
United States won’t crowd out China- Extensions
[
]
[
]US and China influences do not trade off in Mexico.
Xiaoxia, Staff Writer for the Economic Observer, 5-6
[Wang.. “In America's Backyard: China's Rising Influence In Latin America” The Economic Observer,
5/6/13 http://worldcrunch.com/china-2.0/in-america-039-s-backyard-china-039-s-rising-influence-inlatin-america/foreign-policy-trade-economy-investments-energy/c9s11647/ ]
For South America, China and the United States, this is not a zero-sum game, but a multiple
choice of mutual benefits and synergies. Even if China has become the Latin American
economy’s new upstart, it is still not in a position to challenge the strong and diverse
influence that the United States has accumulated over two centuries in the region.
[
] No competition for regional influence
Xiaoxia, reporter, 2013
(Wang, Translated by Laura Lin, “In America’s Backyard: China in Latin America”, Economic
Observer Oneline, 4/27, http://www.eeo.com.cn/ens/2013/0507/243704.shtml, CMR)
China's involvement in Latin America doesn’t constitute a threat to the United States, but
brings benefits. It is precisely because China has reached "loans-for-oil" swap agreements with
Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador and other countries that it brings much-needed funds to these oilproducing countries in South America. Not only have these funds been used in the field of oil
production, but they have also safeguarded the energy supply of the United States, as well as
stabilized these countries' livelihood; and to a certain extent reduced the impact of illegal immigration
and the drug trade on the U.S.¶ For South America, China and the United States, this is not a
zero-sum game, but a multiple choice of mutual benefits and synergies. Even if China has
become the Latin American economy’s new upstart, it is still not in a position to challenge the
strong and diverse influence that the United States has accumulated over two centuries in the
region.
21
Points of Entry Affirmative
Urban Debate League 2013-14
Novice
Chinese Influence Bad- Latin America growth and stability
[
] Chinese influence in Latin America is bad – trade deficits, income inequality and
political instability would spread across the region.
Shaiken et al, Professor in the Center for Latin American Studies at UC-Berkeley, 2013
[Harley, and Enrique Peters – Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Miami. And
Adrian Hearn – Centro de Estudios China-Mexixo at Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico.
China and the New Triangular Relationships in the Americas: China and the Future of US-Mexico
Relations, 2013. Pg 7-8]
However, closer ties to China also have signifi-cant disadvantages for both Latin America and
the United States:¶ Growing trade deficits. Latin American lead-ers who sign trade and
investment deals with the PRC have noticed that China's exports are more affordable than their
own goods, which contributes to trade deficits. Chinese goods are made by laborers who work for
one-third of the wages of Latin American counterparts and who tolerate worse working
conditions. Officials in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico have signaled their unease about trade with
such a hot com-petitor. In September 2005, Mexican President Vicente Fox made it clear to visiting
President Hu Jintao that dumping electronics and cloth-ing was unacceptable. For every dollar that
Mexico makes from exports to China, the PRC makes $31 from exports to Mexico.[9]¶
Disinterest in economic reform. Some ana-lysts believe that the commodities-based trade model
used by China will undermine the progress that Latin America has made toward
industrialization. While countries like Chile and Brazil have moved beyond raw materials exports,
others with powerful presidents or rul-ing oligarchies may be tempted to fall back on plantation
economics. Income gaps between the rich and poor may widen as a result. More-over, such
narrowly focused economies are vul-nerable to downturns in commodity prices. Some 44
percent of Latin Americans already live below the poverty line. If these countries fail to adopt
reforms, social inequality and political instability could depress U.S. exports to the region and
increase migration problems
22