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Mexico-U.S. Migration After NAFTA: The Boundaries for Cooperation

Alexandra Délano

Fox International Fellow, Yale University

Introduction
NAFTA and migration
Mexico an U.S. Migration Policies in the 20th century: Asymmetry of Power and Domestic Factors
After NAFTA... What Has Changed? What Can Change?

1. Introduction

The bilateral relation between Mexico and the United States underwent a major change with the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994.[1] Economic liberalization of the Mexican economy since the 1980s had already led to a significant integration of the countries’ markets, but signing NAFTA meant that the governments were willing to establish a formal and extensive commercial and financial cooperation agreement. In the past, the asymmetry of economic and political power between both countries had determined the fact that the U.S. could achieve its goals in every area without assuming the costs of establishing formal compromises with Mexico. In turn, Mexico didn’t have enough bargaining power to influence U.S. policies according to its own interests. Nevertheless, in the case of NAFTA both countries agreed that the best way to protect their interests in light of changes and new trends in the international environment was through economic cooperation.

Even though the asymmetry of power persists –given that Mexican economic dependence on the U.S. is greater than the U.S.’s dependence on Mexico’s market--, the cooperation that began in commerce and finance has influenced major changes in the way in which both countries perceive each other, and the domestic and foreign policies they implement. Many analysts agree that NAFTA is not only a commercial agreement; its implications are far-reaching and its consequences affect political, social, and cultural aspects in both countries (Alba 1998, Massey et.al. 2002). As the process of economic cooperation has developed in the past eight years, the boundaries for policy coordination have been extended to other areas, which in some cases include historically controversial issues such as the management of legal and illegal labor migration from Mexico to the U.S.

In this essay I will analyze the extent to which bilateral cooperation has influenced migration policies in both countries. My argument is that the asymmetry of power between Mexico and the U.S., and the lack of domestic consensus regarding migration issues are the limits to formal cooperation in this area. Even so, I believe that current changes in the bilateral relation, especially since NAFTA, can lead to a new and better management of the situation in the future. Each of the three sections of this paper will develop these ideas. First, I will analyze the reasons why NAFTA did not include common migration policies and how the governments dealt with economic integration in relation to this issue. Due to the fact that migration flows between the countries have direct economic causes and consequences, they are a relevant factor to achieve the goals delineated by NAFTA and to foster further integration. The reasons why a shared migration policy was not included in the agreement point towards certain factors that have historically hindered the possibilities for bilateral management of this phenomenon. In order to explore these factors, in the second section I will explain the domestic circumstances that determined Mexico’s and the U.S.’s positions towards migration throughout the 20^th century. The third section will focus on the changes NAFTA has wrought in the management and discussion of this issue, including an analysis of the current situation following the 09.11 attacks. In my closing remarks I will delineate what I consider the current challenges for the management of migration in the short and long term.

My perspective is based on the assumption that the current flows of Mexican migration to the U.S. involve economic, political, and social factors inherent to both countries. One must take into account the existence of all these variables in order to broadly understand the circumstances that push and pull migration and the ways in which they are dealt with in each country. In the past, one of the greatest limits for the management of migration has been the lack of shared objective information. This has led to the creation of myths that portray migrants as threats to receiving countries, of groundless ideas about their economic effects, and of inadequate policies detached from the reality of the situation (Cornelius 2000). The negative consequences that these tendencies have for both countries can no longer be ignored. My intention is to enlighten the discussion with an objective, extensive analysis of each country’s history and policies, in an attempt to meet the challenges that I believe are implied in the integration process between Mexico and the U.S. since NAFTA.

[1] In this analysis I will focus only on Mexico and U.S. relations, therefore, Canada, the third party to NAFTA, will not be mentioned.

Fortsetzung: Mexico-U.S. Migration After NAFTA