How did the Maquiladora Program get started?
In 1964 the Johnson administration, under domestic political pressures, ended the Bracero Program. Under this program, Mexican nationals had been allowed to temporarily work in the U.S. agricultural sector. This had created a huge influx of Mexican workers coming from the interior of Mexico to the border cities seeking employment in the U.S. After the elimination of the Bracero Program, many stayed hoping the program would be reinstated and continued seeking employment. In 1965, the Mexican government responded by creating what was originally known as the “Border Industrialization Program” to alleviate high unemployment in the border region and to attract foreign investment and technology into Mexico; and in 1966 the maquiladora program was born.
