Ted Lewis, Mexico program director, Global Exchange - San Francisco

The spirited defense of the North American Free Trade Agreement by President Bush and his Mexican counterpart in New Orleans recently ignored an inconvenient fact — the annual number of undocumented immigrants arriving in the USA from Mexico has risen dramatically since that trade agreement's inception ("Bush defends free-trade policy," USATODAY.com, April 21).

(Photo - In New Orleans: President Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderon defend the 14-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, which also includes Canada / Saul Loeb, AFP/Getty Images)

NAFTA's boosters promised that it would create enough jobs to prevent Mexicans from seeking work across the border, but more Mexicans live in poverty now than did in 1994. As opportunities have faded at home, many have followed the dictates of the free market and sought work in America's construction, agriculture and food services industries.

It's past time to renegotiate NAFTA to protect Mexico's most vulnerable communities, including the hundreds of thousands of small farmers who have lost their livelihoods in the past decade.

Investing in Mexico's communities will not only provide opportunities for more Mexicans to stay at home but also will provide the only sustainable way to reduce the current pressures on the U.S. immigration system.