Why are so many Mexicans moving to the US for jobs when so many factories are moving to Mexico?

Answer 1

In short, not many factories moved to Mexico, but American and Canadian subsidized agricultural products killed the Mexican agriculture, resulting in a huge wave of immigrants into the U.S. during the 1990's.

One of the unintended consequences of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was increased Immigration from Mexico into the United States, as the original treaty never touched on the subject of government subsidies and labor laws.

When the treaty came into effect in 1994, Mexican farmers had to compete against heavily-subsidized agricultural products from Canada and the United States, such as corn, milk and wheat. Most of them went bankrupt, and knowing the Canadian and American agribusiness was booming at the time, millions of farm laborers immigrated, often illegally, into the United States to perceive a decent wage while still using their expertise; others simply switched to manual labor that required very little, if any, education.

On the other hand, not many factories moved to Mexico: due to cheap labor, tax incentives from the Mexican government, deregulation from US custom laws and several devaluations of the Mexican peso, many American and foreign-owned companies had moved part of their manufacturing to Mexico since 1985; companies focused on those processes that were repetitive and labor-intensive.

After NAFTA came into effect in 1994, the trend continued at a faster pace, until 2001, when China entered the World Trade Organization, and many maquiladoras -- such as those related to textiles, furniture, footwear and toys -- were relocated again; this time to China.

Answer 2

In short, not many factories moved to Mexico, but American and Canadian subsidized agricultural products killed the Mexican agriculture, resulting in a huge wave of immigrants into the U.S. during the 1990's.

One of the unintended consequences of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was increased immigration from Mexico into the United States, as the original treaty never touched on the subject of government subsidies and labor laws.

When the treaty came into effect in 1994, Mexican farmers had to compete against heavily-subsidized agricultural products from Canada and the United States, such as corn, milk and wheat. Most of them went bankrupt, and knowing the Canadian and American agribusiness was booming at the time, millions of farm laborers immigrated, often illegally, into the United States to perceive a decent wage while still using their expertise; others simply switched to manual labor that required very little, if any, education.

On the other hand, not many factories moved to Mexico: due to cheap labor, tax incentives from the Mexican government, deregulation from US custom laws and several devaluations of the Mexican peso, many American and foreign-owned companies had moved part of their manufacturing to Mexico since 1985; companies focused on those processes that were repetitive and labor-intensive.

After NAFTA came into effect in 1994, the trend continued at a faster pace, until 2001, when China entered the World Trade Organization, and many maquiladoras -- such as those related to textiles, furniture, footwear and toys -- were relocated again; this time to China.