Nogales, Arizona. When Public Safety and Economic Development Move Forward Together

Editorial
10 hours ago
5 min read

Nogales, Arizona. When security and economic development advance together – interAlcaldes Magazine

A border can open economic opportunities or become a bottleneck. The difference does not depend solely on walls, officers, or customs infrastructure. It depends on whether institutions can ensure that people, goods, and businesses operate safely, predictably, and without unnecessary disruption.

Nogales, Arizona, faces that tension every day. Its location makes it the international gateway of Santa Cruz County and a strategic point for trade between the United States and Mexico. Yet this position also requires the coordination of responsibilities no municipal government can manage alone: urban safety, mobility, border inspections, supply-chain protection, visitor services, and investor confidence.

In Nogales, public safety and economic development should not be viewed as parallel agendas. They are components of the same border-governance policy.

An Economy That Depends on a Functioning Border

Nogales is important not because of the size of its population, but because of the scale of the flows moving through its territory. Santa Cruz County states that nearly half of the fresh produce imported into the United States passes through the Nogales gateways. The city also serves as a commercial center for consumers from northern Mexico, whose spending has historically been important to local sales-tax revenue.

Rail traffic adds another layer to this economy. During several months in 2024 and 2025, Nogales ranked among the three leading rail ports along the U.S.–Mexico border, handling approximately $600 million, $700 million, and as much as $800 million in freight during individual months.

The continental context increases the pressure. In 2025, freight trade between the United States and Mexico reached approximately $872.8 billion, 3.9% more than the previous year. Trucks carried 73.6% of the value of that trade, confirming that North American competitiveness depends heavily on land corridors capable of operating consistently.

When a border of this importance fails to operate efficiently, the costs do not remain at the port of entry. They spread to carriers, distributors, retailers, agricultural producers, workers, and consumers.

“In a border city, public safety does not only protect people; it protects the movement that sustains the economy.”

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Urban Public Safety and Border Security Are Not the Same

One of the most common mistakes when analyzing Nogales is to assign the municipal government responsibilities that belong to state or federal agencies.

The city is responsible for local public safety, urban services, land-use planning, and much of the daily relationship with residents and businesses. The operation of ports of entry, immigration and customs inspections, and the control of international goods are primarily the responsibility of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Nogales has several crossings with different functions. The Dennis DeConcini Port processes passenger traffic 24 hours a day; Mariposa handles passengers and commercial cargo; and Morley Gate serves pedestrians during designated hours. CBP publishes separate wait times for each crossing because additional minutes at a port of entry can disrupt travel, deliveries, work shifts, and retail activity.

This division of responsibilities reveals the true complexity of border governance. The municipality does not control the border, but it manages the city that absorbs its consequences. It must maintain roads, organize access routes, respond to emergencies, protect commercial districts, and build functional relationships with federal agencies, county authorities, logistics companies, and the government of Nogales, Sonora.

Economic security emerges from precisely this kind of coordination.

interAlcaldes Magazine, Nogales, Arizona. When security and economic development advance together.

Competitiveness Is Also Measured in Minutes

A city may offer incentives, industrial land, and proximity to markets. But if its access routes are unpredictable, its mobility systems are inadequate, or its environment creates distrust, much of that advantage disappears.

Border wait times demonstrate how quickly operating conditions can change. CBP records periods without delays and others with waits exceeding 30 or 60 minutes, depending on the crossing, time of day, and type of traffic. This is not a minor variation. For a company, lost time means fuel, labor hours, missed deadlines, and higher inventory costs. For local retailers, it can mean fewer visitors and lower spending.

The answer cannot be limited to requesting more officers or lanes. It also requires real-time information, transportation planning, inspection technology, trusted-traveler programs, intergovernmental coordination, and an urban strategy that prevents border traffic from paralyzing local life.

In 2024, CBP launched a facial-biometric technology test at Mariposa for travelers entering the United States in vehicles. The initiative reflects a broader trend: using technology to reinforce identity verification while maintaining the goal of facilitating legitimate flows.

Innovation, however, cannot replace governance. A camera may accelerate an inspection; it cannot repair a road, reorganize a commercial district, or create trust among residents, businesses, and authorities.

The Lesson of Ambos Nogales

Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora, have separate governments and legal systems, yet they form a single economic reality. Manufacturing operations in Sonora are connected to warehouses, carriers, customs brokers, and business services on the U.S. side. Arizona’s retail economy, in turn, depends on Mexican consumers, workers, and suppliers.

That interdependence requires both sides to abandon the idea that public safety ends at the international boundary.

San Diego and Tijuana, El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, and Laredo and Nuevo Laredo face a similar logic: decisions made on one side affect mobility, investment, and employment on the other. Nogales shares this challenge, although at a smaller urban scale and with a proportionally greater dependence on its border crossings.

“The most competitive border is not the one that stops every movement, but the one that effectively distinguishes risk from legitimate activity.”

You can see this article here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb2xo985-ZA

Governing the Border from the Local Level

The municipal government of Nogales cannot control international trade or replace CBP. It can, however, create the urban conditions that allow the border to function more effectively.

It can improve access routes, manage land use, protect commercial corridors, professionalize local policing, use data to identify risks, engage the business community, and participate actively in regional decisions. The City Manager’s Office identifies collaboration with residents, businesses, and regional partners to advance economic development and improve quality of life as part of its institutional responsibilities.

interMayors Magazine infographic Nogales, Arizona When Public Safety and Economic Development Move Forward Together — You can download this infographic for free.

This approach is relevant to Mexican municipalities seeking to benefit from nearshoring. Investment does not arrive only where labor and land are available.

It arrives where institutions can maintain operations, protect workers, resolve incidents, and coordinate effectively.

Nogales shows that public safety should not be presented as the enemy of mobility, nor should economic development become an excuse for weakening controls. Good governance means protecting without paralyzing, inspecting without isolating, and growing without losing control of the territory.

In border cities, economic development depends on people trusting the streets and companies trusting the crossings. When both conditions advance together, public safety stops being a reactive policy and becomes infrastructure for prosperity.

Is your municipality managing public safety only to respond to problems, or is it integrating safety into a strategy capable of protecting employment, investment, and economic development?