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A new report from Public Citizen and the National Partnership for New Americans, Exporting Instability, Importing Exploitation, sheds light on the connections between U.S. trade policies, forced migration, and the exploitation of immigrant workers. For those of us committed to justice, this analysis offers both a sobering diagnosis and a call to faithful action.

Trade Policies that Disrupt Communities

Trade agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA are often framed as engines of growth. But for millions across Latin America, they have meant something very different: the loss of family farms, declining wages, environmental damage, and entire communities uprooted. When people’s livelihoods are stripped away, migration is not a choice—it is survival.

Exploitation on Arrival

For many who reach the United States, the hardship does not end at the border. Immigrants often find themselves in low-wage, unsafe jobs, targeted by detention systems and scapegoated by political leaders. Rather than being welcomed with dignity, many encounter policies and practices that treat their labor as disposable and their humanity as secondary.

A Call to See Differently

The report reminds us that migration is not the “problem” politicians so often claim it to be. Instead, migration is a symptom of deeper systems of economic injustice and inequality. As people of faith seeking right relationship with our global neighbors, we are called to see beyond fear and blame—and to address the root causes driving displacement.

Building a More Just Future

This means advocating for trade and immigration policies that put people and the planet before profit. It means standing with immigrant communities in the U.S. who face exploitation. And it means listening to the voices of those most impacted, centering their experiences as we seek change.

At its heart, this report is an invitation to connect the dots: how decisions made in Washington boardrooms and trade negotiations reverberate through villages in Honduras, fields in Mexico, and detention centers in the U.S. borderlands. To pursue justice, we must confront these connections and work toward policies rooted in dignity, equity, and compassion.

Take Action

We are invited not only to reflect, but also to act:

1. Learn and share: Read the full report
2. Advocate for just trade and immigration policies: Contact your members of Congress and urge them to support trade agreements that protect workers, farmers, and the environment—and immigration policies that welcome with dignity. You can sign up to deliver the USMCA organizational sign-on letter to your U.S. Representative here
3. Stand with immigrant communities: Support local immigrant justice groups, worker centers, or sanctuary ministries in your area. Listen to and amplify their voices.
4. Pray and reflect: Hold in prayer the families displaced by harmful trade policies and those facing exploitation in the U.S. Ask how your community can embody hospitality and solidarity.

The work of the Presbyterian Hunger Program is possible thanks to your gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing.