Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
there on temporary visas to fi ll seasonal jobs in agriculture and forestry. In the
United States, over 45,000 agricultural laborers legally enter the country each
year under a program that allows unskilled laborers into the country, as long as no
Americans want the jobs. Canada began to allow agricultural laborers into the
country in 1966. In both Canada and the United States, the vast majority of legal
agricultural laborers come from Mexico. Canadian companies travel to Mexico to
recruit agricultural laborers from rural Mexico and laborers for the hotel industry
from urban areas of Mexico.
Since September 11, 2001, many countries have cracked down on immigra-
tion, making legal and illegal immigration more diffi cult. The United States has
earmarked more money for building fences along its border with Mexico, hiring
additional border patrols, and installing new technology to intercept would-be
terrorists. The cultural landscape of the border region is changing. The govern-
ment is erecting specially designed fences that are diffi cult to climb, while at the
same time ensuring the fences have spaces where people across the border can
speak with each other. The new fences and security south of San Diego, California,
are pushing illegal immigration farther east into the desert. The fences in the des-
ert are marked by empty water bottles and memorials to Mexicans who have died
trying to cross the border (Fig. 3.3).
Even though globalization has promoted a freer fl ow of goods across the
world, and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) established
freer trade among Mexico, the United States, and Canada, the free fl ow of people
Figure 3.3
Tijuana, Mexico.
Tijuana and San Diego, California, are separated by a highly guarded bor-
der infrastructure that in this section includes two walls to discourage illegal crossing. Human
rights activists placed crosses on the wall to memorialize people who died while attempting to
cross into the United States.
© AP/Wide World Photos.
