"The Urbanization of the U.S. - Mexico Border Region"
by
Jose R. Hinojosa, Ph.D.
Department of Political Science
The University of Texas - Pan American

Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Western Social Sciences Association
Denver, Colorado, April 18, 1998
The Urbanization of the U. S.-Mexico Border Region

ABSTRACT

    In one generation the U. S.-Mexico border region has grown into one of the most populated areas in North America. From an isolated, desolate, and sparcely populated region to a teaming, dynamic metropolitan bi-national area in thirty years. Population figures for the last three decades will be shown, compared, and projected. An analysis of the forces and factors that have led to such a dramatic change will be discussed.
Since World War II transitional interdependence in the U.S. - Mexico border region has increased dramatically. The quaint border towns of the past are memory relics to the now vigorous twin-city complexes such as Tijuana - San Diego, Juarez - El Paso, los dos Laredos, Reynosa - McAllen, Matamoros - Brownsville, that currently lead the ever growing, highly integrated communities along the border. Migration, daily commuter workers, trade, tourism, maquiladoras (foreign- owned assembly plants), and smuggling amply illustrate the dynamic relationship that now binds the two sides of the border. Working -and middle-class Mexicans have contributed significantly to the U.S. economy by providing abundant labor and by consuming American goods on a massive scale. Affluent Mexican inventors have made hefty investments m real estate and commercial enterprises in cities throughout the U.S. Southwest. American corporations have directed significant amounts of capital into the maquiladoras and other sections of the expanding Mexican economy, and tourists from the United States have flocked to the border and to destinations in the interior of Mexico in ever-increasing numbers.
The period 1950-1990 marks a time of profound demographic transformation for the U. 5.-Mexico borderlands. In the decade of the 1970's seven U.S. metropolitan areas along the border experienced growth rates between three and five times the national rate of 11 percent, while in Mexico border city population grew at rates between 67 percent and 96 percent, fill exceeding the national Mexican average of 37 percent. (Hansen, 1984:140-141). This pattern continued in the 1980's, though at lower rates, and has persisted through the 1990's. Fueled by increasing patterns of labor migration out of central Mexico toward the northern border, this steady stream of migration has fed the population of U.S. - Mexico border cities. This has created a unique regional social-economic system where family structures, social interaction, culture and other factors have fused across the border. The most important byproduct has been the unique bi-national, bicultural, transfrontier metropolises that have evolved along the border.
The escalation of paired urban centers, or "twin cities", at the U.S. - Mexico border is an outcome of the century old social system that evolved in the borderlands. The cross - border interconnection between pairs of settlements were recognized early in the evolutionary history of the modern border zone. Studies of border cities have emphasized the transferred nature of their social formation. Among these have been analysis of Tijuana (Price 1973, Primera 1985), Cuidad Juarez (Martinez, 1978), and El Paso (Garcia, 1981). More interesting and perhaps most intriguing, have been the question of symbiosis associated with these paired twin-cities. Studies of such border cities as Brownsville - Matamoros (Gildersleene, 1978), Laredo- Nuevo Laredo (Stein and West, 1976, 1977), El Paso - Cuidad Juarez ( D'Antonio and Form, 1965, McConville, 1965), and San Diego-Tijuana (Duemling, 1981, Herzog, 1985, 1990) have identified a pattern of transborder interdependence that is cultural, economic, social, and even spatial (Dillman, 1983). Price's 1973 study of Tijuana spoke of "international symbiosis", or the interdependence of two or more cultural Systems.
Herzog wrote of the U. S. -Mexico "transfrontier metropolis", as an urbanized area enclosing a single function spatial domain that transcends the international border. This zone of transnational settlement space is described as functionally unified by common dally activity Systems (work, shopping, school, and social interactions), shared natural resources and environmental features (air, water, flora, fauna, etc.), and product and labor markets that overlap the political boundary. The international border line sharply cutting across the social-economic landscape, dividing the two politically defined cities. These cities retain the elements of their nationally derived ecological structure in terms of density, social geography, road configuration, centrality, etc. The transfrontier metropolis thus embraces two opposing forces: the traditional cities, as defined by national culture, and the integrated metropolis, defined by evolving social, cultural, and economic processes that connect the U.S. And Mexico across the border on a daily basis. (Herzog, 1990).
Extending from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and Brownsville, Texas, where the Rio Grande Rio Bravo river empties into the Gulf of Mexico, all the way to Tijuana, Baja California, and San Diego, California by the Pacific Ocean, the border expands 100 kilometers (62 miles) on each side - in a continuous 1,952 miles (3,144 kilometers) international boundary between two nations, the United States of America and the Republic of Mexico. (The Border, 1996). This area has evolved from an isolated, virtually uninhabited stretch of territory to an urbanized, internationally sensitive, and politically important sector of both countries shared by ten million people. The border traverses four of the southwestern United States, and six of the northern states making up the Republic of Mexico. An area containing 107 villages, towns, and cities on the north bank and 203 on the south side.
The border between the United States and Mexico separates two independent, sovereign countries with distinctive histories and unique cultures. Although they are neighbors sharing the world's longest border, the two nations differ significantly interns of language, culture, climate, political Systems, and degree of economic development.
However, in the border region defined in the 1983 Border Environmental Agreement as the area within 100 kilometers, or 62 miles, on either side of the political boundary, those difference are blurred. Many of the people who live in this zone speak both English and Spanish. The overall economy of the area in interlined; thousands of people travel across the border each day between their homes and their jobs. In fact, over 300 million people cross into the United States from Mexico each year, making the U.S. - Mexico border the most frequently crossed border in the world. (The Border, 1996).
From an environmental perspective, the border area is one undivided region. Several rivers, including the Rio Grande, Santa Cruz, San Pedro, Colorado, Tijuana and New Rivers, flow along and across the border. Three major desert regions, including the Chihuahuan, Mojave, and Sonoran deserts, with their unique ecosystems lie on both sides of the border. Groundwater aquifers that provide essential water resources for both human consumption and agricultural use lie under both sides of the border. The cities that face each other across the border share common airsheds and drainage basins.
On either side of the border, the climate and physical features of the land are similar. With the notable exception of the lower Rio Grande Valley, most of the border passes through high-altitude deserts inhabited by drought-resistant species of plants and animals. Temperatures in the area can vary greatly, depending on the time of the day, season, and geography. Because of the rigors of the land and climate, most of the border region is sparsely populated. However, 10 million people live in the 250,000 square mile border area, or about 40 persons per square mile. (The Border, 1996).
But the population is not evenly distributed throughout the area. A large percentage of the population live in or near the pairs of twin cities located across the border from each other. Approximately 9.2 million people line in fourteen (14) pairs of twin cities. (The Border, 1996).
Over the last four decades, hundreds of thousands of people have been drawn to these twin cities in search of better jobs and a higher standard of living. The industrial base has expanded sharply, particularly on the Mexican side of the border. Growing populations and expanding industries along the U.S. Mexican border already are posing an ever-expanding challenge to both countries. As seen below the border has experienced tremendous growth.
In order to analyze the population growth, we will use a regional approach, will start from the East or Southeast of the border at the end of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo in the TexasTamaulipas area and proceed up river until we reach El Paso Norte then travel west the Pacific Ocean in the California-Baja California region.
The Texas-Tamaulipas region stretches approximately 355 miles (540 km) along the international boundary from the mouth of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo as it empties into the Gulf of Mexico to just north of the two Laredos. The major twin cities include Brownsville-Matamoros, McAllen-Reynosa, Laredo-Nuevo Laredo.
The population in this important part of the growing bi-national region forms a vital ingredient of the economy of the area. Of the working-age population in the Tamaulipas border zone, nearly 30 percent work in the industrial manufacturing sector; 15 percent work in the service sector; and 5 percent work in agriculture, livestock-ranching, and fishing. The other half are dedicated to business and trade, and the professions. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1996).
The next region is the Texas- Coahuila-Nuevo Leon area. Eagle Pass-Piedras Negras and Del Rio-Ciudad Acuņa are the principal cities in this border zone. While not as large as the previously mentioned cities in the lower Rio Grande Valley, they are nevertheless important to this region in Northern Mexico and Southwestern Texas, especially in their relationship to San Antonio, Texas. The Rio Grande I Rio Bravo is the largest perennial river in the area dominated by the Chihuahuan Desert, and serves as an important source of water for urban, agricultural, and light industry in the region. In both the U.S. and Mexico, numerous parks and wild life reserves have been established to protect the Chihuahuan desert habitat. These include the Big Bend National Park and the Big Bend Ranch Natural Area in the state of Texas and the Canon de Santa Elena Reserve established in Chihuahua and the Maderas del Carmen protected area in the state of Coahuila. The Falcon and Amistad Reservoirs are important for water storage, conveyance, recreation, fishing, and tourism.
The third region is the New Mexico-Texas-Chihuahua area which stretches approximately 500 miles (300 km) along the international boundary from the Coronado Big Bend National Park to the Coronado National Forest. The major twin cities include Presidio- Qjinaga, El Paso-Ciudad Juarez, and Columbus-Palomas. (U.S. EPA, 1996).
The states of New Mexico, Texas, and Chihuahua come together in the area of Sunland Park, New Mexico, El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua. This area is commonly known as El Paso del Norte from the earliest Spanish explorers. Almost 2 million residents live in the urban and semi-urban area, and it is projected that by the year 2010, there will be 3.5 million people living in the Paso del Norte metropolitan zone. This population forms an important part of the growing bi-national economy of the region. In Ciudad Juarez, nearly 50 percent of the working population are in industrial manufacturing, 15 percent in the service sector, and 5 percent in agriculture, livestock, and fisheries. This is the central location of the U. S.-Mexico international boundary, and where the Rio Grande-Rio Bravo turns north toward New Mexico and its head waters in the state of Colorado. (U.S. EPA, 1996).
The fourth area is the Arizona-Sonora border region and it includes five areas of concentrated population. These five locations are the five principal border crossings points which include: Douglas-Agua Prieta; Naco-Naco, Nogales-Nogales; Lakeville-Sonoita; and Yuma- San Luis Rio Colorado. It also includes one sovereign Indian-Native American nation- the Tohono 0' Odham Nation located between Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and Ambos Nogales.
While relatively less populated than the other regions, except for the Texas-Coahuila-Nuevo Leon region; this area will probably increase in population dramatically as the cities of Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona, grow. While the Sonoran Desert and the Mexican highlands-Sierra Madre Occidental dominate the Mexican side of the region the increase of the population of the Mexican side cities shows that they too are attracting large number of new residents. The Colorado River, which originates in the United States, is a major source of water supply for multiple uses by both countries in the Arizona-Sonora area as it empties into the Gulf of California.
The last border region in our study is the California-Baja California region. It stretches approximately 138 miles (222 km) along the international boundary from the Colorado River to the Pacific Ocean. It includes four areas of concentrated population: Calexico-Mexical; and San Diego-Tijuana, the twin cities on the border, plus Ensenada south of Tijuana, and Tecate, located between Mexicali and Tijuana. This area is an important center of agricultural production particularly in the Imperial County and the Mexicali Valley. This region is also an important industrial and commercial population zone. This area is highly industrialized and is the gateway to Southern California and the Los Angeles County metroplex. It will continue to attract new migrants as the area develops into one of the most densely populated regions in North America.
The U.S.-Mexico border region is a 200 kilometer wide border area which serves as home to more than 10 million people. These includes 14 major twin cities which pair along the border. Almost 90 percent of the border population lives in urban areas. These urban areas are twin city communities composed of a U.S. and Mexico city closely related by proximity, commerce, and shared resources. These twin cities are the main points of commercial, cultural, human transboundary movement and are the industrial centers of the region. Along the Mexican side of the border, these are 23 cities with a total population approximately of 5 million inhabitants. Over the forty years this region has experienced a dramatic surge in population and industrialization, yet for most North Americans, or U.S. citizens, this is relatively unknown. The Hollywood version of the border town of many Western movies still persists.
The most prominent characteristic of the U. S.-Mexico border is that most residents speak Spanish. While most Hispanic residents are either newcomers or first, second, or third generation, many can trace their roots back to the 1600's. The border region is largely Hispanic and rapid growth, as projected from prior expansion, appears to be the norm in most border communities. The Border Research Institute at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM, has estimated that the Hispanic population has increased from slightly over 36 percent in 1980 to 41.1 percent in 1990. By the year 2010, it is estimated to reach nearly 53 percent of the total contiguous border counties population. (The Border, 1996).
The recent interdependence and population growth of the border region is related to several efforts by both the United States and Mexican governments. The first major cause for this increased interdependency and population increase is the Bracero Program instituted in 1942 as a World War II measure which provided much needed Mexican labor during the war in the United States. (Martinez, 1996). Millions of guest workers were allowed to enter the United States under contract to work in the agriculture, railroads, and other short handed industries. This demand for cheap Mexican workers also spurred a massive migration of undocumented laborers who crossed the border to border to satisfy the manpower needs of the American rural and urban economics. This large-scale Mexican immigration, while originally based on legal contracts, expanded to illegal entry of Mexican workers, which has continued, even after the Bracero Program was discontinued by the U. S. Congress in 1964, until this day. When Mexican workers were detained for being undocumented and repatriated back to Mexico they often made the border cities their domicile while they wanted to launch their next expedition to find employment in El Norte. Using the Mexican border cities as launching pads for future sojourns to the United States only contributed to the growth of the border cities and contributed to their congestion and deplorable conditions. At the same time both the Mexican and American border towns became heavily dependent on the cheap labor and the consumer consumption. Both sides now needed each other. The American cities became dependent on the Mexican shoppers and the Mexican cities depended on the American touristas. This codependency slowly grew into a mutual interdependence that today appears as natural as if the border twin cities are actually Siamese twins, linked and inseparable.
In the 1960's the Mexican government established the Programa Nacional Fronterizo (PRONAF), an initiative designed to make Mexican border cities more attractive to American visitors. It also attempted to make national goals more available to the local consumers hoping to lessen the need for border Mexicans to shop on the American side. The PRONAF accomplished it's goals and contributed in making the border cities additionally attractive to more Mexicans from the interior who also wanted to find better employment and improve their standard of living.
In 1965, the Mexican government initiated an additional effort to improve employment opportunities along the border by creating the Border Industrialization Program (BIP). This lead to the industrialization of the border by attracting American, Japanese and other foreign firms to locate assembly plants along the border. The presence of abundant and inexpensive labor contributed to the Maquiladora industry mentioned earlier. By early 1990's more than two thousand assembly plants employing more than five hundred thousand Mexican workers existed. The program increased so quickly that it became the second most important generator of foreign exchange for Mexico, behind aid and ahead tourism. (Martinez, 1996).
This economic expansion contributed to the massive industrialization and impressive population increase of the border region. Manufacturing and high tech industries, plus trade and services now became the ever-growing sectors of the region's economy.
By 1990, 13.2 million people lived in the six Mexican border states compared to the 3.8 million forty years before. On the American side the population of the four U.S. border states more than doubled, incrementing form 19.7 million to 51.9 million. By 1990, the combined population of the greater borderlands totaled 65.1 million. Along the immediate borderline in the Mexican border municipios (municipalities) the population by 1990 was 3.8 million, with the U.S. border counties population numbering 5.1 million, for a combined total of 8.9. (Census, 1990; Census, 1990).
In 1994 the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was enacted. This U.S.-Mexico-Canada accord has opened a new era of cooperation and collaboration in commerce and trade, and in attempting coordinated solutions toward environmental and labor concerns. The interdependence of the border region appears to become even more intense in the future. This increased interaction will only contribute to further growth of the population, and the further industrialization of the border region.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  • Censos generales de poblacion (Mexico, D.F Direccion General de Estadistica, 1950, 1990); U.S. Bureau of the Census, Censuses of Population (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950, 1990).
  • D' Antonio, William V. and Form, William H. Influential in Two Border Cities. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1965.
  • Fernandez, Raul A. The Mexican-American Border Region. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1989.
  • Fernandez, Raul A. The United States- Mexico Border. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1977.
  • Hansen, Niles. The Border Economy: Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 1981.
  • Herzog, Lawrence A. "Border Commuter Workers and Transfrontier Metropolitan Structure along the U. S.-Mexico Border." Journal of Borderlands Studies, vol.5, No2 (Fall 1990).
  • Martinez, Oscar J.: Border Boom Town: Ciudad Juarez since 1848. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 1978.
  • Martinez, Oscar J.: Border People: Life and Society in the U.S. Mexico Borderlands. Tucson, Arizona: The University of Arizona Press, 1994.
  • Martinez, Oscar I. Troublesome Border. Tucson, Arizona: The University of Arizona Press, 1988.
  • Martinez, Oscar J. (Ed.) U. 5.-Mexico Borderlands: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, Inc., 1996.
  • "Population Projections to 2010 for U. S.-Mexico Border Counties and Municipios." New Mexico State University Border Research Institute, April, 1994.
  • Ross, Stanley R (Ed.) Views Across the Border: The United States and Mexico. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 1978.
  • Smith, Clint E. The Disappearing Border: Mexico-United States Relations to the 1990's. Stanford, CA: The Portable Stanford Book Series, 1992.
  • Stoddard, Ellwyn R, Nostrand, Richard L. and West, Jonathan B. (Eds). Borderlands Sourcebooks: A Guide to the Literature on Northern Mexico and the American Southwest. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1982.
  • The Border/La Frontera: The United States-Mexico International Boundary. El Paso, TX: El Paso Community Foundation, May 1996
  • U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic and Statistics Administration, "County and City Data Book, 1994", 12th edition. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1994.
  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Compendium of EPA Bi-national and Domestic U. S./Mexico Activities. Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, June, 1995.
  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Environmental Plan for the Mexican-U.S. Border Area first stage (1992-1994). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, February, 1992.
  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. U. S.-Mexico Border XXI Program Framework Document. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, October, 1996.
  • Weeks, John IL and Ham-Chande, Roberto, (Eds.) Demographic Dynamics of the U. S.-Mexico Border. El Paso, Texas: Texas Western Press, 1992.

TABLE 1
Population Center 1980 Population 1990 Population
California 2,607,000 2,850,000
Baja California 1,401,000 2,108,000
Arizona 235,000 287,000
Sonora 395,000 440,000
New Mexico 21,000 63,000
Chihuahua 870,000 1,085,000
Texas 1,549,000 2,030,000
Coahuila 191,000 230,000
Nuevo Leon 17,000 18,000
Tamaulipas 1,015,000 1,194,000
Total 8,301,00 10,305,000

TABLE 2
Population Center 1980 Population 1990 Population 1995 Population
Laredo, Texas 99,000 133,000 162,000
Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas 203,000 220,000 275,000
McAllen, Texas 66,000 84,000 101,000
Reynosa, Tamaulipas 213,000 283,000 337,000
Brownsville, Texas 85,000 99,000 131,500
Matamoros, Tamaulipas 239,000 303,000 363,000
Total 905,000 1,122,000 1,369,500

TABLE 3
Population Center 1980 Population 1990 Population 1995 Population
Del Rio, Texas 30,000 30,700 34,400
Ciudad Acuņa, Coahuila 42,000 56,800 81,600
Eagle Pass, Texas 21,400 20,650 24,800
Piedras Negras, Coahuila 80,300 98,200 116,000
Anahuac, Nuevo Leon Not Available 17,300 18,300
Total 173,700 223,650 275,100

TABLE 4
Population Center 1980 Population 1990 Population 1995 Population
Columbus, New Mexico 410 640 770
Palomas, Chihuahua 12,000 16,500 20,000
Sunland Park, New Mexico 4,300 8,200 9,100
El Paso, Texas 425,300 515,300 583,000
Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua 567,000 850,000 1,010,000
Presidio, Texas 1,600 3,000 3,500
Ojinaga, Chihuahua 26,000 24,000 23,600
Total 1,036,610 1,417,640 1,649,970

TABLE 5
Population Center 1980 Population 1990 Population 1995 Population
Yuma, Arizona 42,000 55,000 60,000
San Luis Rio Colorado,Sonora 93,000 112,000 133,000
Nogales, Arizona 15,700 19,500 20,700
Nogales, Sonora 68,000 107,000 133,500
Douglas, Arizona 12,800 13,000 14,800
Agua Prieta, Sonora 34,400 39,000 56,000
Naco, Arizona Not Available 700 870
Naco, Sonora 4,400 4,600 4,900
Tohono O'Odham Nation Not Available 17,300 19,000
Total 270,300 368,100 442,770

TABLE 6
Population Center 1980 Population 1990 Population 1995 Population
San Diego (County), CA 1,862,000 2,498,000 2,721,000
Tijuana, Baja California 428,000 747,000 989,000
Ensenada, Baja California 175,000 261,000 314,000
Tecate, Baja California 31,000 52,000 62,000
Calexico, California 14,400 19,000 25,000
Mexicali, Baja California 511,000 602,000 696,000
Total 3,021,400 4,179,000 4,807,000


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