first meeting with the President of Mexico in April 1966, the President appointed a special envoy to make a detailed study of the Mexican border area with the objective of improving trade relations between the two countries as a step toward improving the economy of both sides of the border area. In addition, the Joint Presidential statement of April 16, 1966, called for the establishment of a Joint United States-Mexican Commission on Economic and Social Development of the Border Area to study conditions in the border area and come up with recommendations to improve the standard of living on both sides of the border. In an exchange of notes between the two countries completed on December 5, 1966, it was agreed to establish such a joint commission and on January 17, 1967, the President announced the appointment of Mr. Raymond Telles, of El Paso, as Chairman of the U.S. Section.

XVIII. THE "COMMUTER" PROBLEM AND LOW WAGES AND UNEMPLOYMENT IN AMERICAN CITIES

ON THE MEXICAN BORDER

Prepared for the

Select Commission on Western Hemisphere Immigration

by

The Bureau of Employment Security, Office of Farm Labor Service

United States Department of Labor

April 1967

THE "COMMUTER PROBLEM” AND LOW WAGES AND UNEMPLOYMENT IN AMERICAN CITIES ON THE MEXICAN BORDER

For many years the American Government has permitted alien immigrants to the United States to reside in Mexico and Canada and commute to jobs in the United States without losing their immigrant status. In effect, employment is equated with residence. This practice has been bitterly opposed by residents of U.S. towns on the Mexican border. They feel the Mexican immigrants are not really immigrants to the United States-they only enjoy the material benefits of working for U.S. wages and working conditions while living in Mexico where living standards and costs are much less. With lower living costs than U.S. residents, alien commuters are able, it is argued, to accept less pay than reasonable for U.S. residents to accept. Thus wage rates are undercut and American workers suffer.

It is not just that the commuters settle for lower wages and a lower living standard. They also avoid much of the costs of public services in the United States, some of which they enjoy: public highways, medical and police protection services, shopping facilities, and sometimes even schools. This further reduces the real income of U.S. residents.

Opposition to the alien commuter was succinctly expressed in a February 3, 1961, Resolution of the Texas AFL-CIO Executive Board that is typical of feeling on the border.

. . . the citizens along the U.S.-Mexican border . . . are the victims of the unfair competition for jobs of border crossers who commute daily from the low cost-of-living areas south of the border. These people are willing to work at a wage which is insufficient to provide a decent standard of living for the American citizen living in the United States.

"The 'commuters,' moreover, have at times been used as strikebreakers in an effort to destroy unions of American citizens

"There can be no hope that thousands of American citizens living in the Rio Grande Valley or El Paso or other border cities ever will be able to earn a living wage so long as commuting by border crossers is permitted . . This paper examines readily available data that may shed some light on the extent to which U.S. residents living on the Mexican border are affected by commuters. No effort is made to discuss the legal aspects of the American Government's policy permitting commuting which has also been challenged by U.S. groups opposed to the practice. Perhaps the best discussion of this may be found in the House Judiciary Committee's 1963 publication, "Study of Population and Immigration Problems and Commuters," an unpublished paper prepared by John W. Bowser, Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Inspections, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Extent of commuting. Unfortunately commuters are not routinely identified in the operating reports of the Immigration Service. That agency has made several