By: Erin Savoia
I chose to create an infographic explaining the relationship between NAFTA and immigration into the United States from Mexico. NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) was signed into law January of 1994. Proponents of the agreement assured critics that it would improve the U.S. economy while stimulating Mexico’s. Supporters argued that it would allow cheap foreign products to be imported to the U.S. from Mexico, boosting the Mexican economy in the name of globalization. The newly stimulated Mexican economy would then in turn expand the Mexican job market, leading to less immigration to the United States. However, as it turns out, NAFTA has benefited American corporations while oppressing Mexican workers. This is reflective of the notion that “opportunities for economic advance, as they present themselves serially to one [actor] after another, do not constitute equivalent opportunities for economic advance for all” (Arrighi, Silver, and Brewer, 2007, p.325). In other words, the trade agreement was set up to benefit those already in power (American corporations) while taking advantage of those with less power (Mexican workers).
Each One Teach One (Explanation and References)