Imagine a continent without borders — a continent where goods, people and trade float freely across countries and it is hard to tell where one country stops and one begins. Now imagine this scenario in North America, between Mexico and the United States.

This is what Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico Luis Ernest Derbez has imagined. Derbez received a doctorate in economics from Iowa State in 1980 and boasts an impressive r‚sum‚, and I had the pleasure of hearing him speak Monday night. I will try to describe why his ideas are important, with some possible problems and solutions.

According to Derbez, in the first half of the 1900s, the Mexican-American border was friendly. Security was not an issue, and relations were friendly. People literally operated on a “revolving door” system, where they would cross borders to work and live. World War II and the Cold War changed this sentiment, and soon the border became an actual physical border, with walls, fences and border patrol.

An important step was made in 1994 with the introduction of the North American Free Trade Agreement. NAFTA outlined guidelines for regional free trade between Mexico, the United States and Canada. NAFTA brought economic gains for both the United States and Mexico. A year after NAFTA was implemented, foreign investment in Mexico increased by $6 billion, stabilizing and stimulating its slacking economy, according to www.andover.edu/

aep/papers. The automobile industry boomed in Mexico, creating many new jobs.

NAFTA improved the United States’ economy as well. According to www.ustr.gov/regions, within five years of its implementation, unemployment dropped from 7.4 percent in 1994 to 4.1 percent in 1999, a 30-year low. U.S. exports to Mexico increased 114 percent, and export-related jobs totaled in the millions.

So NAFTA seems like a no-brainer for both countries, but there are still roadblocks as far as borders are concerned. Sure, there is free trade, but definitely not free borders. As pointed out by Derbez, there are Mexicans literally dying to cross into the United States.

Since 1994, more than 2,000 Mexicans have died trying to illegally cross the border. Smuggling is also a problem, since Mexicans will pay up to $10,000 to be illegally smuggled. Men are also leaving behind their wives and children, tearing families apart.

What Derbez would like to see is more of a migration. He would like to see interdomestic politics between the United States and Mexico, where the boundaries between foreign and domestic policy are blurred. He would like to see the demand and supply markets for labor and goods intertwine, and for Mexico and the United States to become more unified.

We can already see some effects of this. According to the U.S. Embassy’s Web site, in 2003, there were 25 million Mexicans living in the United States, or about 7 percent of the population. Hispanics are also the fastest-growing minority in the United States.

What Derbez wants us to realize is that while our baby boomer generation workers are getting old and retiring, workers in Mexico are peaking, and in about 10 years, supply for labor will equal demand. He would like to see the number of visas issued increase, a strong temporary worker program, more legal certainty for Mexican workers already in the United States, better protection for safe and secure borders and focus on economic development in both nations. He would like to see the free exchange of goods and labor across borders.

Doesn’t the concept sound ideal? Only in a perfect world, and our world is far from that. The biggest problem would be the wage Mexican workers are willing to work for. In 2003, the Mexican minimum wage fluctuated between $4 and $4.58 — per day. Obviously, Mexicans are willing to work for a much lower wage rate, so employers would be much more likely to hire them. This could potentially drive the cost of U.S. labor down, and put American workers out of jobs.

Another problem in the discrepancy is the type of free goods being traded. Iowa is exporting products such as corn, soybeans and pigs to Mexico, while Mexico is sending back automobiles, refrigerators and appliances. These things are hardly comparable.

I am highly in agreement with Derbez’s ideas. I think he has some great visions and ideas, and is passionate about the subject. But until labor and goods can be traded at an equal and fair rate, unfortunately, borders will remain.