For years, immigration activists have called for federal legislation that will allow undocumented workers to become citizens, that will end raids and deportation. But at a gathering in Portland Monday night, activists said any reform efforts must also address trade pacts, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement. They say it keeps poor countries poor and gives Latino workers little choice but to cross the border, often illegally.

"1994 - that was when NAFTA was passed; since 1994, six million people from Mexico have to come live in the United States," says David Bacon, a California-based immigration activist invited to Maine by community organizers.

He says NAFTA has cost millions of Mexican farmworkers their livelihood. "NAFTA let big U.S. corporations, like Archer Daniels Midland, dump corn on the Mexican market at a price that was lower than what it cost those farmers to grow it, so all of a sudden they could not survive," Bacon says. "The purpose of the agreement then was not to produce jobs anywhere, it was to protect investments and market opportunities for big U.S. corporations."

Bacon urged the standing-room only crowd of 100 or so people at the North Star Cafe to support federal legislation known as the TRADE Act. Sponsored by Maine Congressman Mike Michaud, a Democrat, the bill calls for a review of international trade pacts, and determines what should or should not be in future agreements.

Labor interests and fair trade supporters in Maine were among the first to back the bill. But the coalition quickly broadened to include immigration activists who saw trade and immigration intrinsically linked.

"Of course, you can't separate the two -- the reason why people come here is because they want to work, they need to work, because they have to work," says Blanca Santiago, executive director of the Latino advocacy group El Centro Latino Maine.

She says economic policies allow U.S. corporations to exploit Latino workers on both sides of the border: those working in the U.S. factories set up in Mexico and Central America, and those who have migrated to the U.S.

"They come here and they get very low-paying jobs," she says. "They have no legal status. And it seems really unfair to have raids and deportations when in fact there are corporations that are benefiting from cheap labor all of the time."

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce did not return calls for comment. But the country's largest business lobby describes itself as NAFTA's staunchest advocate and points out that trade between the United States, Canada and Mexico has more than tripled since 1994.

Labor representatives, however, say company profits have come at the expense of American jobs. In Maine, it's estimated that more than 30,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost since NAFTA.

"Workers in the United States and workers that are forced to emigrate to feed their families really have more in common than we have differences," says Matt Beck, an organizer with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Maine. He says revamping trade policies will be good for both Maine workers and Latino migrant workers, whose numbers are estimated at 10,000 to 12,000 year-round.

"When workers immigrate to the United States, they're often undocumented, their wages are very low and that lowers the floor on wages for all workers," Beck says. "By coming up with a new trade model we could protect good-paying factory jobs in the United States. We could protect the jobs in other countries at the same time."

But the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which wants to reduce the number of , has another view. It says that the home countries of migrant workers need to do more to strengthen their own economies. Bob Dane is their spokesman.

"One of the solutions to our illegal immigration issue in the United States are countries such as Mexico taking responsibility for themselves and closing that gap between the super rich and the super poor, eradiciating corruption endemic in their society and infrastructure."

Dane says the country has to focus on protecting American jobs, and one way to do that is to reduce the number of immigrants coming into the country.

Daphne Loring, coordinator of the Maine Fair Trade Campaign, says that the way to reduce the number of migrant workers coming into the U.S. is not through raids and deportations. "We believe we need a trade policy that allows people to stay home in their home country if they want to and an immigration policy that supports all workers, whether native born or from other countries, to earn a decent wage, and have dignity and human rights."

Her group, which includes labor, environmental, farming and low-income advocacy groups, is helping to promote a march for immigration reform on May 1st in Portland. The march will be part of dozens around the country that day, aimed at pressuring the federal government to tackle immigration policy. President Obama has not signaled that as a priority for this year.