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Thursday, 03/18/1999
NAFTA
Border booms as trade increases
The border area between Texas and Mexico has grown rapidly since the 1970s, with NAFTA giving a further boost. Economic development specialists in the Rio Grande Valley — the stretch between Brownville and McAllen — say the region was on a fast track before the treaty. But the free-trade agreement between Mexico and the United States gave the often-ignored region a higher profile, both within Texas and nationally. If Congress had not ratified NAFTA, said Nancy Boultinghouse of the McAllen Economic Development Corp., Mexicans "would have been highly insulted — and so would have I."
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Population of the Rio Grande Valley of Texas 1970-1997
| County | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | Percent Growth | 1997 Estimates | Percent Hispanic |
Cameron | 140,368 | 209,727 | 260,120 | 24.0 | 319,578 | 81.9 |
Hidalgo | 182,535 | 283,229 | 383,545 | 35.4 | 479,783 | 85.2 |
Starr | 17,707 | 27,266 | 40,518 | 48.6 | 51,482 | 97.2 |
Willacy | 15,570 | 17,495 | 17,705 | 1.2 | 19,500 | 84.4
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Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 1990
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