Spanish term describing the thousands of factories that have sprung up along the U.S.–Mexico border in the wake of NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement).   An inexpensive source of labour for multinational corporations, maquiladoras are known for meagre wages, brutal management practices, dangerous working conditions, and widespread environmental violations.

assembly plants in Mexico, especially ones along the border between the United States and Mexico, to which foreign materials and parts are shipped and from which the finished product is returned to the original market

Duty-free (for U. S. import) manufacturing plants located in Mexico.