Donna Texas Manufacturing: Shifting Economics And International Bridges

Even as many border cities are racing to build new crossings , however , the economics are already starting to shift. For one thing, personal travel across the border has fallen acutely over the past few years, largely due to concerns over drug-related violence in northerly Mexico. Noncommercial crossings,eg visitors and clients, are down by almost 30 percent since their top in 2005.

That sure is a problem that is here to stay, says Xochitl Mora Garcia, a spokesman for Laredo, that has postponed plans to build what would have been its fifth border crossing. "It's not temporary," Garcia claims of the fall. "It's not a fluke. [The violence in Mexico] does not appear to be subsiding anytime soon."

Fears of violence could start to affect commercial transport as well , although that traffic is comparatively stable for now. Just last month, the boss of a Black & Decker maquila in Reynosa — who lived on the American side of the border — was discovered strangled, his body left in a vacant Reynosa lot. Although the circumstances of his death are misleading, local officers worry those types of events could deter companies from locating there in the future.

"What we must do," asserts McAllen City Manager Mike Perez, "is work with the Mexican central authority to make certain that the people setting up manufacturing operations in Mexico feel comfy and secure for the chiefs to cross back and forth."

Violence apart, some critics of the replenished fervour for building bridges question just how advantageous they actually are to the local community. One of the insistent ironies of border cities is their sky high misery rates. While the increased number of crossings has helped the northern Mexico economy, misery remains a "hallmark" of U.S. Border communities, according to a paper published by the Fed Reserve Bank of Dallas. Border towns such as San Luis, Pharr and Brownsville, Texas — that all have global crossings — also have misery rates in excess of 32 %, more than double the nation's rate. And the McAllen and Brownsville regions have among the lowest median household incomes in the country.

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Annah Amaris is an economic development expert. Visit her site at donna texas and maquiladora

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