The Causes and Effects of the 

Mexican Migration 
Written by: Aiden Duran and David Lobato 

12​TH​ GRADE Political Studies 

 
 

 
  
 

Background 

Long before America’s era of manifest destiny, during the 1800s, Mexico occupied 
the current-day states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and 
California. Before the Civil War, those used for slavery moved West so that they 
may be able to expand their slave empire. When these American migrants 
arrived, they discovered, Mexico had outlawed slavery. In the name of manifest 
destiny, these migrants convinced the United States to declare war on Mexico and 
win the Western lands of North America. The result of the war was the U.S 
winning and setting a border below California. 

Causes of Mexican Migration 

In 1994, The United States, Canada, and Mexico agreed to the North American 
Free Trade Agreement. This trade meant that these countries could trade freely 
amongst each other without limitations. Though many Americans feared that 
American jobs would be lost, Mexico ended up being the biggest failure of this 
trade. Mexican farmers were not able to keep up with the mechanized and 
subsidized corn of the United States. In other words, the cheaply mass produced 
corn of the United States put independent Mexican farmers out of business. 

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About 1.3 million Mexican farmers were forced to abandon their plots. To combat 
this, the Mexican government tried to create jobs in factories near the border. 
However, these jobs were dangerous and were not able to hire all farmers.  

The Trump administration claims that America did not benefit from NAFTA. He 
claims that more jobs were exported and that trade deficits increased for the 
United States. The trade liberalization that NAFTA brought was supposed to 
encourage equitable globalization. However, the Mexican farmers suffered far 
more than America profited. 

Effects of Mexican Migration 

Due to the hardships of their homeland and their slim chance of survival, many 
Mexicans migrated to the United States through illegal means. Those who are 
concerned about the millions of illegal Mexicans in the US have tried to militarize 
the border. According to Aljazeera, billions of tax dollars were wasted on the 
militarization of the border and in the creation of detention centers.  

In fact, according to Business Insider, Mexican immigrants have left a positive 

impact on the US economy.  

Contributions made by Mexican Immigrants 

● Mexican immigrants contribute 4% of US GDP 

● Represent 60% of unauthorized labor 
● Occupy jobs that are considered undesirable 

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Interview by David 

I interviewed my grandfather, he spoke about the time when the former 

President Salinas de Gortari signed The North-American Free Trade Agreement 
(NAFTA), it made many Mexican farmers lose their job, Mexico sold their product 
to the U.S. for a cheap price, meanwhile the U.S. sold it to the country for a higher 
price and at the same time they would send Mexico’s own product back and sell it 
as well for a higher price. Having this said, my grandpa getting paid with a little 
amount of money, he was forced to migrate to the U.S., he worked for about 6 
months here and left because he was homesick so he decided to go back to 
Mexico with his family, Coming back home had them financially stable for a 
while, but it didn’t keep them stable forever. 

Interview by David 

I also interviewed my Father, his side of the story was not as big as my 
grandfathers, but he did explain when the agreement passed. Many jobs were 
lost, including my dads. After losing his job, he went seeking for a job after job. 
He ended up working at a bakery in Mexico, and he remembers a time in which 
President Carlos Salinas de Gortari stole money, taking the value of the pesos 
down. He told me that he worked hard, he gained about 240,000 pesos and by the 
time the former president came into power, he took away three zeros from the 
money and my dad ended with 240 pesos. He has had no choice but to migrate to 
the U.S. illegally and till now he’s here. 

Conclusion 

With all the corruption that has been brought upon Mexico, there are people still 

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trying to shape the country such as the new president of Mexico. Recently, he has 
tried  

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