Main content

Borderline Cases

Borderline Cases

If you are not affiliated with a college or university, and are interested in watching this film, please register as an individual and login to rent this film. Already registered? Login to rent this film.

BORDERLINE CASES investigates the environmental impact of the nearly 2,000 factories - maquiladoras - that have been built in Mexico at the US-Mexico border by multinational corporations from the US, Asia and Europe.

In the early rush to globalization these factories, whose workers are paid a fraction of US wages, did not need to comply with costly environmental regulations. The result, according to one reporter, is that the border became 'a 2,000 mile long open sewer, a vast toxic waste dump.'

The public debate over NAFTA brought the border's problems to light. Today environmental issues take an important place in US-Mexico relations.

BORDERLINE CASES, a documentary essay, describes the consequences of 25 years of environmental neglect, the results of five years of earnest activity and promises made for the future.

A diverse mix of people of both countries, from grass-roots groups, government, academia, and industry, are rethinking traditional notions of borders as they engage in the search for solutions.