Timelines

Erkunde die Geschichte von Migration, Staatsbürgerschaft und Zugehörigkeit in Deutschland und den USA über die Jahrhunderte.

1994

NAFTA Catalyses Mexican Migration

Enacted on January 1, 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) created a trilateral trade bloc amongst the United States, Canada, and Mexico that eliminated barriers to trade and investment.

Proponents of NAFTA claimed it would stimulate the Mexican economy and, therefore, curb undocumented immigration from Mexico to the United States. However, U.S. agricultural imports in Mexico pummeled the prices of many Mexican products, forcing many agricultural workers to migrate for work. Moreover, U.S. manufacturers built a major industrial zone on the southern side of the border to take advantage of weak labor, environmental, and worker safety regulations in Mexico, contributing to increased border populations. NAFTA not only compelled many Mexicans to migrate north, it also led to depressed wages and job losses among American blue-collar workers. Both realities fueled a tide of anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States.

United States

Sources

Alejandro Portes. NAFTA and Mexican Immigration. Border Battles: The U.S. Immigration Debates. July 31, 2006. Date accessed: September 12, 2015.
Roger Bybee, Carolyn Winter. Immigration Flood Unleashed by NAFTA’s Disastrous Impact on Mexican Economy. April 26, 2006. Date accessed: September 12, 2015.
Patricia Fernández-Kelly, Douglas S. Massey. “Borders for whom? The role of NAFTA in Mexico-US migration”. The ANNALS of the American academy of political and Social Science. Edition Volume 610, no. 1. 2007. Pages 98-118. Date accessed: September 12, 2015.

Additional Resources

Casey Peek, Jose Palafox. “New World Border”.
Douglas S. Massey, Jorge Durand, Nolan J. Malone. Beyond Smoke and Mirrors: Mexican Immigration in the Area of Economic Integration. U.S.A.: Rusell Sage Foundation.