NAFTA is enacted and “Operation Blockade” begins

The United States, Canada, and Mexico agree to the North American Free Trade Agreement in an effort to help Mexico’s development as a capitalist country. Under NAFTA, all non-tariff barriers to agricultural trade between the U.S. and Mexico are eliminated and U.S.-run Maquiladoras open in Mexico. Both conservatives and progressives criticize the NAFTA as unfair to both Mexican and American workers, fearing it leads to lower wages and unfit working conditions in both countries.

Meanwhile, the El Paso Border Patrol places 400 agents directly on the Rio Grande river to deter undocumented immigrants trying to migrate to the United States. By 2003 nearly 3,000 people are killed attempting to illegally cross the border.