Migration in the 1980s, Debt Crisis and IRCA

Migration was booming in the 1970s and its effects lasted in 1980s as well. The effects of migration were being felt on both sides of the border. The number of migrants increased rapidly during the 1970s and the effect was felt massively in 1980s. In addition, the second generation Mexican-Americans were growing in number each year.

On the Mexican side of this period, economic struggle was still going on but the state switched to different set of economic policies. Mexican economy started to open up to foreign investment after the state understood that they could not get over with the devastating effects of 1980s Debt Crisis. Mexican peso got devaluated and private banks were expropriated, Mexico declared moratorium on September 1982. Eventually, the state found the solution in opening the economy to foreign markets and foreign investment; they switched to free trade from the long-going closed economic model. Mexican state ratified General Agreement on

76

Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1986 and almost eliminated all trade protectionist policies.

When these new tactics did not pay enough, Mexican state demanded to establish another Bracero Program with the United States but American side opposed this proposal and Mexico turned back into a ‘policy of having no policy’. Mexican state chosen to accept migration as a sovereign issue of United States and stayed outside of migration issues by following a ‘policy of no policy’. However, this decision changed with the election of new president; Salinas de Gortari. President Gortari came to power in 1988 and established closer bonds with American state under Bush administration. President Gortari tried to save the country from the economic crisis and tried to find better was for the problems of Mexican migrants.

Gortari administration established an agreement with the United States in 1990 and via this agreement; Mexican private bank debts were converted into ‘Brady Bonds’. Brady Plan of United States was designed in 1989 under U.S. Treasury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady in order to intervene in the economic crisis happening in Latin American countries (EMTA). This crisis was harming U.S. economy as well and through this plan they intervened in the situation. U.S.A guaranteed the interests of the debts and World Bank, IMF and Eximbank of Japan financed the interests (Vasquez,1996, p.233). As Mexico was the first Latin American country that negotiated with commercial bank creditors to solve the crisis, it became the first country to involve in the Brady Plan. As the result of this agreement, Mexican debt increased but their annual payment burden subsided. Salinas also had another initiation for reconstructing Mexican economy. His administration abolished the restrictions on foreign investment and privatized public enterprises.

However, foreign investors were still abstaining from investing in Mexico and due to unemployment, Mexican workers were still trying to cross the northern side of the border. The rise of migrants was not stoppable at the time due to high unemployment in home country. As a result of this; American state was trying to control the situation by lessening the available visas and dragging out the procedures but this tactic was having a reverse effect and causing more

77

undocumented migration and these people were mostly coming to the country through human smugglers in the border. As mentioned above, the number of irregular migrants reached almost a million. Having disturbed by this uncontrollable situation, American state acted Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) in 1986. The IRCA had two policy objectives for the American state;

on the one side they wanted to slow down irregulat migration by establishing a control mechanism for hiring processes and on the other side they wanted to decrease the number of irregular, long-term migrants in the country. For these purposes; this act brought responsibilities and limitations to American employers for hiring authorized, documented workers. If they would not obey this law, they would have to pay sanctions and even prison terms was possible. Workers, on the other hand, were to supply I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Form while applying for jobs. Also, the law tried to prohibit employers from discriminatory behavior towards their employees. Another important article of this act was that; it brought amnesty for one time to those irregular migrants who came to the country as of 1982. By doing so, IRCA dropped the number of irregular documents residing in the country, since 1.7 million irregular farm-workers benefited from this amnesty and became legal citizens of United States.

Hence, during the 1980s, Mexican side was struggling with the economic depression and American side was struggling with undocumented worker problem.

United States government established IRCA in order to regulate and prevent undocumented migrant problem but the fear of getting deported led Mexican workers to settle in American land and do not go back to the homeland. Hence, the preventive policy turned out to be increasing the number of migrants. Mexican migrants were thought to be temporary labor power but they turned out to be permanent migrants who established quite large networks and organized day by day. “International labor migration from rural Mexico has followed an upward trend from 1980 to 2002 but it is driven overwhelmingly by past migration, reflecting the central role of migration networks” (Borjas, 2007, p. 286). With the opening up of the Mexican economy to free trade and international markets at the end of the 1980s, their cooperation with United States not only in terms of worker

78

exchange but also in terms of economic establishments and formation of bigger enterprises have tightened the bond between two countries. Mexico was started to be shaped as a hub for the United States markets and the effect of this phenomenon was felt greatly in the 1990s with the signing of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).