Under NAFTA, the vast majority of investments into Mexico were in maquiladora
factories: export-oriented manufacturing and assembly plants that return profits to
the U.S. and other investor-based countries and do not promote direct economic
development within Mexico. Over 2700 maquiladoras were constructed along the
already environmentally-strained and overpopulated border region between Mexico
and the United States.1
The overcrowded cities and towns associated with these
maquiladoras continually struggle to meet basic sewage and waste disposal needs,
resulting in a hepatitis A infection rate more than double the Mexican average.2 The
increase in trade has also meant an increase in traffic and the accompanying air
pollution. In the border town of Ciudad Juarez, between 1997 and 2001, over 36,000
children were rushed to emergency rooms due to breathing problems. This high
level of air pollution was also shown to contribute significantly to deaths among
children under age 5