In August we had a group from Morocco visiting the Customs and Border Patrol offices in Nogales and Tucson.
The trip to Nogales covered the Mariposa Port of Entry where they were shown how the commercial traffic is handled at this location. In the month of June (last numbers posted) 38,031 container trucks passed through this port along with 37,530 trucks. The Mariposa Land Port of Entry is one of the busiest land ports in the United States. It serves as the main port of entry for fresh produce entering the United States from Mexico and the primary produce distribution point on the southern border.
Following the visit to Mariposa the group had lunch at El Zarape Cafe and then on to a meeting with Santa Cruz County Supervisor Manny Ruiz.
The next day the group visited the Tucson sector of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection headquarters in Tucson.
Although they had other meetings scheduled they chose to pass on those to contribute to the economy of Tucson by shopping at various locations.
This was a short stay, just two days of programming before being taken to Sky Harbor to fly out for their next destination.