No-one really knows the scale of how many illegal aliens are currently embedded within the U.S. workforce because the immigration laws and employment laws are in conflict.
However, as one example – a single commercial Chicago Bakery, Cloverhill, was audited (raided) by Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently and a full one-third of their 2,400 employee total workforce was illegal.

CHICAGO — A Chicago bakery lost 800 workers to an immigration raid earlier this year.
Bloomberg reports that the Cloverhill Bakery on the Northwest Side, lost more than a third of its employees who didn’t have sufficient documentation.

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CTH has been looking, unsuccessfully, for China SME’s who have insight on the DC lobbying angle by Chinese foreign nationals and the hidden story of how the Trump administration might be confronting that aspect.
Gordon Chang briefly touches on that note during a discussion segment on the overall outcome of President Trump’s 12-day visit to Asia.
Apparently, if Chang’s sources are accurate (likely they are), the notification by POTUS Trump toward Chairman Xi Jinping, of the lobbyist warning did take place [Video 02:25].

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The foreign influence lobbying is a critical element for us domestically in the larger geopolitical strategy.  Chinese nationals pay our congressional representatives millions of dollars to purchase U.S. foreign policy.  CTH is cautiously optimistic this is a key element of Robert Mueller.
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The initial report from the U.S. Border Patrol on the murder of Agent Rogelio Martiez was posted Sunday November 19th, and stated: “Agent Rogelio Martinez and his Big Bend Sector partner were responding to activity while on patrol near Interstate 10, in the Van Horn Station area. Agent Martinez’s partner reported that they were both injured and in need of assistance. Responding agents provided immediate medical care, and transported both agents to a local hospital.”
Yesterday the FBI took over the investigation and released their expanded statement:

First and foremost, the thoughts and prayers of all the federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies involved are with the family, friends and U.S. Border Patrol work force during this tragic time.

On November 18, 2017, at approximately 11:20 p.m. CST, U.S. Border Patrol Agents from the Van Horn Station in the Big Bend Sector, located two injured Border Patrol agents in a culvert area adjacent to Interstate 10, about 12 miles east of Van Horn. They provided the injured Agents with immediate medical care and transported them to a local Van Horn hospital.

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$64 billion of the current annual trade deficit with Mexico stems from the auto sector alone.
For over a decade auto manufacturers have moved to Mexico in order to import parts from Asia, assemble and install them, and then ship the completed cars into the U.S. through NAFTA without duties (tariffs).
The U.S. auto ancillary business groups (parts suppliers) have been pushed out of competition in the auto sector by this corporate profit strategy.  Thousands of U.S. jobs have been lost in both the plant assembly and the ‘auto-parts’ manufacturing sector.
CTH has called attention to this bastardized supply chain for years.  Foreign auto-parts, made by foreign workers, assembled into U.S. owned manufacturing, and sold as U.S. automobiles. The weird supply chain and assembly process is essentially a multinational corporate scheme (in the auto sector) which exploits one of the loopholes in the 25-year-old NAFTA agreement.
If the assembly plant was on U.S. soil the foreign (mostly Asian) parts would be taxed as imported parts.  However, so long as the assembly is in Mexico (or Canada), the origin of the parts is currently irrelevant, and the finished automobile crosses the border into the U.S. avoiding the taxes using NAFTA.
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No-where is Trump Derangement Syndrome more evident than in the position of activist Democrats now swearing allegiance to multinational trade deals.
It was only a short time ago when Democrat activists and liberal politicians demanded U.S. withdrawal from TPP and openly discussed how NAFTA was disastrous for the U.S. worker. Both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton ran on pulling out of TPP etc.
Trump gets elected, actually fulfills a campaign promise and promptly pulls-out of TPP subsequently beginning to renegotiate NAFTA (with leveraged threats to withdraw); and suddenly, Democrats are joining arm-in-arm with corporate Republicans expressing their profound love for multinational trade deals. Go figure.

Round #5 of NAFTA renegotiation begins today in Mexico, absent any diplomatic trade ministers, and Canada announces their intent to use their access to congress as leverage over the executive branch in an attempt to work around President Trump:

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada will redouble its lobbying efforts in Congress to block any Trump administration move to pull the United States out of NAFTA, sources familiar with government strategy said, as talks to modernize the treaty run into trouble.
[…] Canadian officials say there is some considerable doubt as to whether Trump could pull out of NAFTA without approval from Congress, which makes lobbying its members so important.

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CTH has a strong sense that when the final analysis on Venezuela’s ongoing socialist struggle is written, some years from now, the geopolitical strategy used by the Trump administration will be taught in political science classes. [Backstory Here]
As a result of horrific socialist policies, primarily driven by using oil production to maintain it’s socialist governance, Venezuela is under massive debt and desperate for cash.  The United States was one of the few remaining cash purchasers of Venezuela oil before U.S. Secretary of Treasury  Mnuchin imposed sanctions.
Previously China and Russia purchased Maduro’s oil, however their current purchases are/were all made as offsets, repayments, for prior loans.  China and Russia already own 49% of Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA. Venezuela repays China and Russia with oil, but Venezuela needs cash revenue. It doesn’t generate additional revenue for Maduro if China and Russia purchase more oil, it only pays down the Venezuelan debt.
Venezuela needs money.  However, if anyone engages in restructured debt or further loans or bond holdings to Maduro they run the risk of running afoul of Secretary Mnuchin’s sanctions which could have a downstream effect of freezing their own banks and international financial systems from engagement with U.S. banks.
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The headline says -2.6%, but that’s the median.  The actual 2019 economic predictive modeling for Mexico is up to a 4% contraction if the U.S. cancels NAFTA.  The next round of NAFTA negotiations is scheduled for November 17th.

Additionally, these models are based on current trade economics and do not factor in the ramifications of Mexico joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership; and signing up to manufacturing sector agreements with Asian nations who can easily undercut even the low wage rates in Mexico based on average wealth.
The predictive models are run by various analysts paid by multinational business interests (corporations) to give advanced forecasting.  The results of the forecasts are used by multinational financial systems to determine the inherent value of future investment within Mexico.
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Apologies in advance to our conservative Canadian friends; but the explainer here is regarding America-First trade and economics against the backdrop of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, Canada and Mexico’s alignment therein, the APEC Summit and rainbow socks.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Justin from Canada

Here’s why Canada and Mexico signing up to TPP is great news for the U.S., and couldn’t come at a better time for NAFTA round #5 on November 17th.  We don’t want TPP to collapse, because TPP ties the hands of Canada and Mexico to elements of trade that are based on collective interests. Their joining TPP provides the U.S. leverage in NAFTA.
Remember, Vietnam is exactly 12 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time zone.  At 7:450pm last evening in Vietnam (local time), at the last minute, Rainbow Socks backed out of the signing the TPP framework (explained here).  Twelve hours later, at 7:20am (local), the AP reported the agreement was “back on” with “a compromise”:

DANANG, Vietnam (AP) — The Latest on the summit of 21 Pacific Rim economies in Vietnam (all times local): 7:20 a.m. – Trade ministers say they have reached a basic agreement on a Pacific Rim trade pact without the United States.

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United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer was interviewed by Fox News host Laura Ingraham ahead of his important participation in the Asia trip.
Within the interview Ambassador Lighthizer shows his wolverine attitude toward the ongoing trade deals and his role within the larger geopolitical strategy of the Trump Doctrine.  There’s solid, affirming and unwavering economic insight within this interview.
Interestingly Lighthizer mentions the national security aspects inherent within the administration’s economic trade strategy. He details how his role, within the larger policy, is to focus intensely on achieving the best ‘America-First‘ trade deal possible. “Killers”.
Secretary Wilbur Ross (commerce), Secretary Steven Mnuchin (treasury), Secretary Rex Tillerson (state) and Secretary James Mattis (defense) then collate the outcome and ultimately President Trump makes the final decision.  Working in concert, together they map how to use the leverage within the Lighthizer’s deals to achieve national security objectives.

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WASHINGTON — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced today that construction for prototypes of the Border Wall has concluded in San Diego.

The prototype construction phase is complete. CBP will now test and evaluate the finished products, provided by industry, to determine which wall design elements meets our needs. This testing and evaluation period will last 30 to 60 days.
“Border security contributes to our overall national security and relies on a combination of border infrastructure, technology, personnel, and partnerships,” said acting Deputy Commissioner Ron Vitiello.
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