Industrial Free Zones in the US II

I have had an idea that think might be implemented to help revitalize the US economy, making use of our own traditional strengths, and at the same time, create a buffer on illegal immigration coming from the south.  This proposed idea is based on three assets we already have:

1. Human Resources
2. Technology and Innovation
3. Our Market

This idea is quite simple:

Create a law by Congress that will allow the US to create a wide border zone with Mexico (and some other areas like Florida where the implementation can be adapted to) and create massive Industrial Parks on a Free Zone model.  These will allow us to contribute with highly qualified labor (engineers, managers, technicians, etc.) and merge them with unskilled labor from the south on a controlled, regulated environment enabling the US to harden the application of the law on illegal immigration but with an alternative.

The US will benefit from the massive construction of these areas.  Services to those areas will spring up as the need for their services arise (food, household services -cable, electricity, telephones-, hardware stores, etc, that will be needed in the living areas of these workers).  The US Economy will benefit from income taxes and Social Security payments that will flow from the creation of hundred of thousands of jobs.  We will benefit from producing goods that not only are currently consumed in the US and being produced in China, the Far East, Central America, the Caribbean, some using the Free Zone status, and instead, they will be "Made in America" again, and even some of it will be exported again.

Some special Agricultural and Cattle Free Zone areas can be created along the border where land that is currently marginal, can, with our technology, become productive using up human labor to pick the crops, package it, transform it and ship it.

We will create an effective buffer zone for illegal immigration currently flowing from the south and will benefit hundred of thousands of Latin Americans, principally Mexicans of course.  But it can also benefit certain islands of the Caribbean that can establish an agreement with the US on shipping labor to Florida.

This idea, on a more structered manner, was sent to Representative John Boehner's Office and effort was made to reach Senator Rubio with no response.  There is hope however that this idea does not get lost somewhere along bureaucracy if it has any merit at all.  If not, just dreaming about it, was fun enough.

Political Tourism

As odd as it can sound, politics can be developed into tourism attraction.

For those who have lived in a democratic nation and whose generation and his (or her) parent's have lived in total political tranquility, countries where one man rule and one man is worshiped by some and hated by others, might constitute a theme worth exploiting as a tourist attraction.

One can imagine a tour bus showing banners alongside roads where a character is displayed as being the savior of the nation;  next to God, this person is portrayed as the embodiment of goodness.  All the infrastructures; roads, bridges, ports and government buildings, owe their existence to this person that without him (or her), the country itself would probably not exist.

The exercise of democracy in that country can be appreciated by the riders of these type of tours on the walls where the same person is portrayed as the devil, reason for all evils and carrier of all bad news in the same nation.

The Political Tourists could purchase mementos from this memorable trip, such as t-shits, hats, pins and other items with the picture of this character, little flags that display the leader's favorite colors (those of his party), and of course, those exceptional pictures of irreverent people that flick their fingers as the tourists are dressed with all these mementos.

These tours could be combined as to visit two or three of these countries.  Usually they have exceptional diplomatic relations among them and visas could be obtained very easily.  These countries although they disdain the nations from where these tourists originate, because of their opposition tho one man rule, they do like their dollars these stable democracies produce and even promote the visitation of tourists from these nations.  The tourists are welcomed but they have to abide by the laws of the land, specially, the one that requires no political, personal or otherwise opinion that could incite any disposition against the ruler from whom all good proceeds.

Besides the small inconvenience that causes being expressionless while visiting the Political Tourist Spot, it's worthwhile because of the fun one can spend afterwards sharing with family and friends back home the incredible simplicity of these regimes where everything can be summarized by one person.  These leaders grant permissions, enacts decrees, makes laws and makes sure everything is implemented according to their will, which of course, is the will of the people he rules, as he has decreed; with the exceptions of a few ill educated and untactful citizens that have heard bad advise from some tourists that did not fully complied by the requirements of the laws of the country and have therefore, acquired unwanted foreign customs.

So our advise, is that Travel Agents should engage in promoting these tours because we are sure they will be in great demand, specially after this blog is published.

BON BOYAGE!

Industrial Free Zones on US side of Border with Mexico

Industrial Free Zones on US side of Border with Mexico

1.       The purpose of this essay is to suggest the implementation of Industrial Free Zones on the US side of the Mexico Border.  The main purposes could be outlined as follows:

                                             I.            To partially regulate the influx of Mexican labor as to access US jobs within a regulated environment.   This in turn would -in principle- reduce the illegal immigration and could justify the implementation of harsher regulations, laws, etc.

                                            II.            To promote the creation of skilled labor (management, technical, etc.) for US workers therefore mitigating the national unemployment.

                                          III.            Area Development:  The areas destined for this activity would grow in local services, indirect employment and other benefits for the local communities along the border.

2.       The Framework for the implementation of this proposal is NAFTA.

3.       It can give US companies the chance of acquiring better labor costs without leaving the US, therefore remaining a “Made in the US” company.  Companies’ migration would still be within US borders instead of going overseas looking for cheaper labor costs, neutralizing therefore US Union’s arguments.

4.       The territory where this initiative can be developed is on all of the US territory bordering Mexico.  The initiative however can be exercised on States that are not in contact with Mexico but are through ocean water, accessible to other countries friendly to the US and are in need of creating jobs for their population, example: Florida.

5.       These “Zones” could work in coordination with existing free zones in other countries that are currently benefiting from trade agreements signed with the US.  These zones could do the manufacturing that requires the most labor input, while the “Zones” in the US can engage in more complex assemblies.

6.       The Mechanism Suggested for the implementation could consist of –but is not limited by- the following:

6.1    The enactment of a law by Congress that creates within the Labor Department, the Offices of Industrial Free Zones (this name could be changed to expand its scope, such as “International Free Zones” permitting therefore, service companies and agricultural companies also to make use of this initiative).

6.2    Within that law, there has to be certain amount of basic decision making capacity endowed to the States that are the possessors of the territory where the “Zones” are to be created and where the qualified personnel that will flow into these zones will likely proceed from -or eventually reside in-.

6.3    The law has to amend, create or develop Immigration law as to adapt possible status that permit temporary labor to be accommodated into the scheme presents by this initiative.

6.4    The State Department has to be involved, for there are issues that will have to be agreed with countries where this unskilled labor force proceeds from.  In some cases, those countries would have to amend their own laws so as to allow their nationals to travel while holding onto the privileges they hold while living in these free zones.

6.5    Income taxes could be shared between the US and the country where these workers proceed from.  A suggested rate could be 40% the US, 60% the country of origin.  All sales taxes originating in products sold for the internal consumption within these “Zones” will go to the States.

6.6    All raw materials going into these “Zones” will of course be free of taxes as well as all finished goods.

ROBERTO SOLÓRZANO

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