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Tampico Affair
n April 1914, nine American soldiers are arrested and detained by Heurta's army for allegedly entering a prohibited zone in Tampico. Mexico apologizes, but U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sends U.S. Marines to the port of Veracruz to "obtain from General Huerta and his adherents the fullest recognition of the rights and dignity of the United States." -
New Government
In 1917, Mexico adopts a new constitution to ensure permanent democracy in the country. In 1929, the National Revolutionary Party is formed; it is later renamed the Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional), or PRI, and it leads Mexico for the next seventy-one years. -
Zimmerman Telegram
A secret telegram from the German foreign minister to his Mexican counterpart offers to restore territories lost by Mexico in the 1846 war if Mexico will attack the United States. Germany hopes such a war will distract the U.S. military, which it fears will soon be drawn into the European conflict. But the telegram is intercepted and published in the United States, leading to an outcry and a declaration of war on Germany. -
Roosevelt's Good Neighbor Policy
In his inaugural speech, he says "I would dedicate this nation to the policy of the good neighbor--the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others," thereby initiating the Good Neighbor policy. The policy opposes any armed intervention in Latin America and is meant to reassure the region that the United States will not pursue interventionist policies. -
The Bracero Program
The United States and Mexico begin their first official temporary contract labor program. The program, which focuses on the agriculture and railroad industries, mandates a base level of wages, housing, medical care, and food, but critics of the program charge that the Mexican migrants are exploited by their U.S. employers. Also, caused an increase of illegal mexicans in the U.S. -
Operation Wetback
President Dwight D. Eisenhower begins Operation Wetback, a forced repatriation program supervised by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Roughly 750 U.S. Border Patrol agents sweep California and Arizona in June; one month later, fifty thousand people have been apprehended. -
Immigration Reform and Control Act
The United States passes the Immigration Reform and Control Act, which seeks to crack down on illegal immigration by sanctioning employers who hire illegal immigrants. The law also grants amnesty to 2.7 million illegal workers already in the United States. -
North American Free Trade Agreement
U.S. President Bill Clinton signs the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a trilateral agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. NAFTA pledges to eliminate tariffs over fifteen years. NAFTA opens the door to new institutional relationships between the United States and Mexico, on issues including military training, environmental degradation at the border, central bank cooperation, and rule of law. -
Expansion of Border Patrol
In 2004, Congress authorizes an additional ten thousand agents for the Border Patrol, which will double the force to twenty-one thousand agents by 2010. Increased border security means that Mexican migrants who used to return home seasonally now stay in the United States for fear of being apprehended by the Border Patrol. -
Bilateral Border Cooperation
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Mexico City with a delegation including Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to discuss border security and counternarcotics efforts. U.S. and Mexican authorities introduce a "new stage" in bilateral border cooperation, called "Merida 2.0," The new plan expands aid to Mexico to fight drug trafficking and reorients focus away from the military and toward improving social and economic conditions.
