Mexican President’s Immigration Plan Could Be Game Changer
By Fox News. In a bid to reduce migration to the U.S. and attract investment, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has proposed the creation of economic “free zones” along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Tax Incentive Decree for the Northern Border Region, which Lopez Obrador announced Saturday, would create a free zone that would stretch from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Coast and be more than 15 miles wide, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
Inside the zone, income taxes would be reduced by a third and Value Added Taxes on imported goods would be slashed in half, the minimum wage would increase 100 percent, and fuel prices would equal U.S. prices, the report said.
“It’s going to be the biggest free zone in the world,” Lopez Obrador said. “It is very important to project for winning investment, creating jobs and taking advantage of the economic strength of the United States.”
Lopez Obrador, a self-styled left-wing populist, took office Dec. 1 with the promise to help the country’s poor, noting that the nation’s minimum wage had lost 70 percent of its purchasing power in recent decades after devaluations and economic crises. (Read more from “Mexican President’s Immigration Plan Could Be Game Changer” HERE)
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US, Mexico Seek to Stem Migration From Central America by Funding Development in Region
By USA Today. The United States and Mexico will be cooperating closely to convince thousands of potential Central American migrants to not risk the perilous journey to the U.S. border by investing money into some of the region’s poorest areas.
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said up to $10.6 billion in existing U.S. funding would fund “institutional reform” and “good government” initiatives in Central America, along with regional development in southern Mexico – where new Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has promised to pull the region out of poverty through projects ranging from railways to refineries to planting thousands of hectares of trees.
Cross-border cabinet meetings would be convened, Ebrard said, and private sector participation would be included in the plan.
“Both countries recognize the strong links between economic growth in southern Mexico and successfully promoting prosperity, good government and security in Central America,” Ebrard told reporters.
“We’re committed to promoting strong regional economic growth, better-paying jobs and better opportunities for all our citizens.” (Read more from “US, Mexico Seek to Stem Migration From Central America by Funding Development in Region” HERE)
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