NAFTA and Nativism

Shortly before the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into effect in 1994, then US President Bill Clinton optimistically predicted, as more Mexicans gained the ability to support themselves at home, a gradual decline in illegal immigration. Contrary to Clinton’s promise, however, the US has seen a four-fold increase in undocumented Mexican workers in the last decade. Putting Mexican agricultural and industrial workers in direct competition with their northern counterparts, NAFTA brought about severe wage reductions in Mexico, with the official Mexican poverty rate rising by almost five percent between 1994 and 2000. With more Mexicans fleeing to the US in search of higher-paying jobs, tensions between American and Mexican workers are rising. As Congress makes efforts to authorize the building of a 700-mile wall along the US - Mexican border, however, columnist Harold Meyerson claims that little will change as long as workers are powerless in the global economy: “Forget the fence. We need a new rulebook for the world.” – YaleGlobal