Maquiladora Immigration

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These issues of dislocation, unemployment, and increased poverty have led an increase in legal and illegal immigration into the United States. After NAFTA passed, migration from Mexico to the United States more than doubled, with half a million immigrants coming into the country each year, on average. Immigration to the United States breaks up many families in Mexico. It is a dangerous crossing, with hundreds of immigrants not making it alive. Many immigrants find that when they do arrive to the US, they still struggle to find a job. This wave of migration has also caused a negative impression of the people of Mexico for many people living in the US. They do not understand the implications that forced the migration, and has increased …show more content…

The maquiladora can import materials and equipment duty-free, and then export the finished product back to the foreign company. They are concentrated in the Northern part of Mexico near the border with the US. Foreign companies are enticed by maquiladoras because they offer very low wages and costs and thus savings, but maquiladoras come with an array of social problems. Workers in the maquiladoras earn very low wages, almost 40 percent lower than those paid to non-maquiladora laborers. The amount they receive is not nearly enough to support a family. Maquiladora workers are also more likely to suffer a work-related injury, as they rarely receive adequate training or proper safety equipment. They are exposed to physical risks such a heat, noise, poor ventilation, awkward posture, and vibrations. Women working in maquiladoras are subject to even more abuse. Many maquiladoras test for pregnancy, and screen out pregnant women from applicant pools in order to avoid having to pay maternity benefits. This treatment is against Mexican federal labor law, but many maquiladoras simply do not care. Women moving to cities with maquiladora labor, in particular Juárez, also take the risk of becoming another victim of the femicide, or mass murders of women, going on there. In Juarez alone, more than 370 bodies of women have been found since 2005, and over 400 are still missing according to Amnesty International. These are just some of the conditions Mexicans have been forced into after being displaced as a result of

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