NOGALES, Ariz. — In Nogales, Arizona they understand something often lost in all the discussion of people crossing the border: That’s the positive value of being next to Mexico with all the cargo that comes across. In Nogales alone about 400 thousand trucks per year bring in millions of dollars worth of products you use and food that you eat.
On this day at the border, it’s corn, but on other days it could be fresh tomatoes, squash, grapes— it’s really a menu too long to list. Chamberlain says cross border produce has been a booming business for a hundred years and his family’s been in it for more than fifty. The trucks also bring in goods manufactured in Mexico. Companies from the U.S. and the rest of the world use factories in Mexico to build cars, electronics, medical devices and other products. Businesses on the U.S. side provide components and expertise.