The Border (map and general regional statistics)
Industry Breakdown (pie chart)
Country of Origin (bar chart, Tijuana Only)
Worker Profile (gender statistics)
Wages (minimum wage comparison)
Market Basket (food basket and standard of living)
Environment (population projections, environmental health, factoids)

Maquiladoras at a Glance Download PDF File Size: 177Kb/13 pages

Definition of Maquiladoras

Foreign-owned assembly plants in Mexico. Companies import machinery and materials duty free and export finished products around the world. They are also known as twin plants, maquilas and in-bond industries.

The US-Mexico Border

Industry Breakdown

Maquiladora Labor Force by Branch of Industry

Country of Origin - Tijuana Maquiladoras Only

Examples of Maquiladoras in Mexico

Worker profile

No. of Women Working in the Maquiladora Industry: 472,423 "In the early days women made up as much as 80% of the assembly plant workforce, today they number close to 60%. While they can legally be hired at the age of 16, it is common for these girl-women to get false doucments in order to go to work at ages as young as 12, 13 or 14." (Mexican Labor News & Analysis, 3/2/1999, v4, no4) Wages Minimum Wage Mexico - $3.40 per day vs. US - $5.15 per hour Example: Hourly compensation costs for production workers in manufacturing Mexico - $1.21 vs US - $17.70 (Global Trade Watch, The NAFTA Index, October 1, 1998)

The Environment

Population Border County and Municipio Population Projections

Water

"Surface and groundwater supplies are threatened along the US-Mexico border due to the dumping of raw sewage, agricultural runoff, and industrial and hazardous waste pollution... All streams and rivers in the border region have suffered deterioration of water quality due to the lack of adequate municipal wastewater collection and treatment systems. The current infrastructure deficit is enormous, and the added demand created by growing populations will be significant."

"Contamination of the Rio Grande River during NAFTA has been well documented. Extensive testing has revealed that extreme fecal contamination leaves border residents at risk for Hepatitis A. According to the Texas Department of Health, since NAFTA went into effect the Hepatitis A rate for Cameron County shot up from 17.8 per 100,000 residents to 87.4 per 100,000 an increase of almost 400%. The Hepatitis A rate for Maverick County increased by 122% since 1993. Webb County's rate also increased by 78%."

Air

"According to the EPA, border area residents are exposed to health-threatening levels of air pollutants, including carbon monoxide. The following US border areas exceed ambient air quality standards: El Paso, TX; Dona Ana County, NM; Imperial County, CA; San Diego, CA; Douglas, AZ; Nogales and Yuma, AZ."

Environmental Health

"The neural tube defect rate per 10,000 babies in Cameron County, TX was 9.08 in 1997 and 19.94 in 1998. This is almost twice the national average."

"The [Texas] Department [of Health] recently declared that, 'the entire border area remains a high-risk area [for neural tube defects] compared to the rest of the US.'"

Hazardous Waste/Sewage

"Each day, 130 million gallons of industrial waste, agricultural runoff, slaughterhouse remains and raw sewage enter the New River from the Mexicali Valley."

"Under NAFTA, maquiladora employment increased by 54% in Ciudad Juárez, spurring significant population growth. Yet Juárez still has no waste treatment facility to treat sewage produced by the 1.3 million people who now live there."