AS/COA hosted a conversation with Asst. Secretary Thomas A. Shannon, who outlined U.S. policy for the Americas. Read a transcript of his remarks.

Alexandra Délano reviews Jorge Castañeda's lucid account of the political debates over U.S.-Mexico immigration as well as an overview of recent Mexican migration flows.

While the U.S. presidential race sparks debate about NAFTA, officials spar over a U.S.-Mexico pilot trucking program. Critics raise fears about Mexican truckers on U.S. roads, but the Department of Transportation finds the project benefits U.S. truckers and trade.

The reelection of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero offers both Spain and the United States the chance to mend ties and broaden cooperation in Latin America. Eric Farnsworth and Christian Gomez outline ways the two countries can support Latin America's standing in the global economy and democracy in the region.

In the Calgary Herald, AS/COA President and CEO Susan Segal explains how, despite candidates' anti-NAFTA talk, the pact has proven a crucial investment and trade tool. "In a campaign about optimism and the promise of America, anti-NAFTA rhetoric simply doesn't fit," writes Segal.

Cristina Rodriguez, a law professor at New York University, analyzes state-level immigration legislation and cautions that lawmakers may reconsider reforms once costs of heightened enforcement set in. The challenge of integrating immigrants requires cooperation from all levels of the U.S. government. 

The North American Free Trade Agreement as been battered lately with sharp criticisms and calls has been made to withdrawal from it. In an op-ed, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez argues that this would be a disaster, hurting the U.S. economy, its workers, and its communities.