The Importance Of A Border Region During World War II

The importance of a border region has always been an issue of sovereignty--which national or international power can claim the right to control a border? The U.S./Mexico borderlands are no exception, and the transgression between malleable policies and stringent militarization has occurred rapidly throughout the 20th century. The high levels of socioeconomic and political ties that have existed within the border regions of California, New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona have evolved since the boom of industrialization that occurred after World War II. The development of a relationship between the United States and Mexico has been intertwined since the 1800s and policies concerning border politics have led us to believe that the border region is†¦show more content†¦The U.S. was the superior force and within two years enacted the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which seceded half of Mexico’s territory to the US. The Gadsden Purchase completed this assimilation of lands and dre w a newly formed border between the two countries. However, as we know borders that are drawn by political boundaries seldom reflect or take into account the socioeconomic world that existed prior to the succession. The U.S./Mexico borderland became a milieu of displaced Mexican citizens and Native American groups trying to establish themselves as intermediary entities within the border region. Nevertheless, they were faced with an influx of U.S. settlers who sought to develop and industrialize their agrarian landscape. As border regions grew in economic diversity, both the U.S. and Mexico developed a dependency on said agricultural and industrial business. Though tensions remained high in terms of nationalistic greed, both U.S. and Mexican governments were wary of the influx of capital being transferred between developing border regions. Soon a hierarchy began to arise, mechanisms that enacted systematic oppression developed between U.S. settlers and native populations. As both groups competed for jobs in the same economic settings; the privileges of better pay, better treatment, and freedom of movement from job to job were denied repeatedly to minorities groups within the region. Border jobs i nclude work in factories known as maquiladoras that were U.S.