The Border Within: NAFTA and the New World Border, annotated bibliography

Ty Iwamoto

NAFTA increases the prosperity of some, ruins the subsistence of others, brings more immigrants to the United States, sends more gangs and drugs across the border, enhances the quality of life for many natives and many strangers, burdens schools and hospitals, and binds countries together in ways that will become all the more astounding.

Mexican American historian Douglas Monroy analyzes the historical and cultural relationship between Mexico and the U.S. surrounding NAFTA and transmigration. NAFTA (North America Free Trade Agreement) was a utopian idea that sought to benefit both countries by eliminating tariff on imported products from the other country which would allow both sides to sell more of its products to each other. In the case of corn trade, which has always been Mexico’s staple, its inclusion under NAFTA increased the export of corn by the US. This consequently destroyed the domestic economy of Mexico, costing the welfare of corn producers and forcing Mexican citizens to migrate and look for job across/near the border, ‘developing underdevelopment.’ The transnational migration of workers led to gangs, drug-trafficking, and making Mexico more American. The economical and cultural relations between Mexico and the US today call for greater attention.