maquiladora

[ muh-kee-luh-dawr-uh; Spanish mah-kee-ah-daw-rah ]

noun

, plural ma·qui·la·do·ras [m, uh, -kee-l, uh, -, dawr, -, uh, z, mah-kee-ah-, daw, -, r, ahs].

1. a factory run by a U.S. company in Mexico to take advantage of cheap labor and lax regulation.

Word History and Origins

Origin of maquiladora¹

1985–90; Mexican Spanish, perhaps < Spanish maquilar extract a toll

Example Sentences

The giraffe’s arrival was a point of pride for Ciudad Juárez, a tough, dusty city across from El Paso, Texas, that is known for its hundreds of maquiladora assembly factories and its endemic gang violence.

From Seattle Times

For 10 years, they shared a room and worked long hours for low wages with no benefits in maquiladoras, the foreign-owned factories that dot the length of the U.S.-Mexico border.

From Seattle Times

Mr. Colom had success in textiles and Guatemala’s entry into large-scale production through assembly plants known in Spanish as maquiladoras.

From Washington Post

Employees at the maquiladora, as the border plants are known, had long been represented by a union affiliated with the Confederation of Mexican Workers.

From Seattle Times

The movement won 20% pay raises at all 48 maquiladora factories in Matamoros.

From Seattle Times