(Washington D.C.) – Officials at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters joined seven members of Congress on Capitol Hill today to discuss their recent mission to Mexico examining the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) after 10 years.

“The Teamsters have long alleged that NAFTA is a pyramid scheme designed to benefit corporations and wealthy individuals,” said Chuck Harple, Assistant Director of the Teamsters Government Affairs Department. “Our trip to Mexico confirms that ten years after NAFTA, those concerns have never been more truer. The depth of poverty, exploitation and outright acts of violence against Mexican workers is worse now than it was a decade ago.”

Other members of the House delegation included Jerry Costello (IL), Raul Grijalva (AZ), Bernie Sanders (VT), Jan Schakowsky (IL), Ted Strickland (OH) and Bennie Thompson (MS).

The entire group met with workers and farmers and their families, as well as Mexican political leaders in Juarez, Mexico City and Nogales before returning to Texas.

“Despite the loss of more than one million jobs in 10 years due to bad trade agreements, the Administration insists on denying the fact that free trade is crippling workers in the United States and killing workers in Mexico,” said Teamsters President James P. Hoffa.  “The Teamsters will work with pro-worker, pro-family officials like Rep. Marcy Kaptur to publicize the true negative effect of NAFTA on working people.”

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents more than 1.4 million members throughout the United States and Canada.