NAFTA is also, though rarely discussed in these terms, a defacto immigration policy. Though the borders between the USA and Mexico been highly fluid have ever since these two countries came into existence, the pace of immigration actually increased during the NAFTA years, from about 350,000 per year before NAFTA to approximately 500,000 per year by the early 2000s(Wise 2009: 13). It seems NAFTA is driving people north, across the border into the USA.