Nafta and mexican immigrants in the us

NAFTA and Mexican immigrants in the US

In the last decades, migration has been an important topic in North America. NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) was promised as a solution to the patterns and processes of Mexico-US migration. “During the 1993 battle over the North American Free Trade Agreement, the proposal's promoters' most politically effective argument was that NAFTA would keep Mexicans out of the United States” (Jeff Faux, 2003). The opposite has happened since then, even with stronger border control policies by part of the US. Even with the 80% of Mexican trade being accounted for trade with NAFTA partners, the agreement does not provide any social contract, which leads to a lack of aid to Mexican´s labor, health and environmental standards (Hudson, 2009; Faux, 2003). Therefore, it can be argued that NAFTA accelerated Mexico´s out-migration, due to reasons that will be examined in this essay. Firstly, an analysis of the impacts NAFTA had on Mexican labor market will be conducted. Secondly, the essay will look at the impact of immigrants on the American labor market. Thirdly, it will consider possible solutions for the migration problem. Finally, the conclusion will confirm the argument presented in this introduction. The implementation of structural adjustment policies by the Mexican government in 1994 involved deregulation and the elimination of subsidies and incentives. That was the beginning of the reduction of public spending and elimination of social programs. With the signing of NAFTA, the country was to live a strong commercial and, ultimately, economic relation with the US. As mentioned before, the trade relations between the two countries “broadened substantially since NAFTA´s implementation” (Hudson, 2009), but that is basically due to the maize production, as other products and industry sectors are not a significant part of this relation. NAFTA´s purpose is