Beyond Smoke and Mirrors

Douglas S. Massey believes that migration phenomenon between Mexico and the United States is part of a historical process of North American integration. This process acquired a new momentum with the approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994, which eliminated barriers to the movement of goods, money, services, and information. But rather than include labor in this new regime, the United States continues to resist the integration of the labor market. Instead of easing restrictions on Mexican workers, the United States has militarized its border and adopted restrictive new policies of immigrant disenfranchisement.