| In 1995, the first round of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which included reciprocal investment and participation of the ground transportation industries of Mexico and the United States, took effect. NAFTA gave Mexican trucks access to highways initially just in the U.S. Southwest but more recently has allowed them access to all states. The agreement has been a mixed blessing to the border town of Eagle Pass, Texas. The increased traffic between Mexico and Eagle Pass has put an economic strain on the Eagle Pass infrastructure and its ability to deal with the increased traffic and costs, and many factories and businesses have suspended production in their U.S. facilities and have transferred their operations to Mexico to take advantage of the lower labor costs. Due to the collapse of the Mexican peso in 1994, retail employment in the border region also has dropped dramatically.
Southwest Texas Junior College (SWTJC) is renovating the Frank Chisum Regional Technical Center in Eagle Pass in order to create a Certified Diesel Technology program there to bring additional economic development and jobs to the region. As a significant port of entry, Eagle Pass has an average of 6,527 commercial trucks cross the border each month. With Mexican trucks now able to travel anywhere in the United States, trade between the United States and Mexico will continue to expand. It is estimated that 80 percent of the trucking trade will pass through Texas.
SWTJC serves an area encompassing 11 counties located along the economically depressed border region of Southwest Texas. The area, comprised of some 16,812 square miles, is vast, rural, and sparsely populated. The great majority of the region's population is clustered in and around 22 municipalities that comprise less than 5 percent of the land. Seventy-five percent of the population is Hispanic and 30 percent live below poverty level. Less than 63 percent (and an even lower percentage of Hispanics) have completed high school. The region is characterized by high poverty, high unemployment, high illiteracy, low educational attainment, a declining local public tax and revenue base, and a rapidly rising demand for public services. If the region were viewed as a separate state, it would have the highest poverty rate and lowest per capita income ($18,390 in 1998) of any state in the country.
The population of Eagle Pass, Texas, a major point of entry into Mexico, is 47,297. Approximately 39.7 percent of its households are below poverty level. Many adults have sacrificed higher learning opportunities for survival level jobs. Only 10 percent of the adults 25 years of age and older have graduated from high school (14 percent in Maverick County). The majority of school children (88.9 percent) receive free or reduced-rate school lunches.
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