The booming maquiladora, or twin-plant, industry along the border and the North American Free Trade Agreement of 1993 have made Laredo a hub for international trade.

Laredo is the busiest inland port in the United States, handling 2.8 million trucks a year and more than 275,000 rail cars. It is one of the nation's fastest growing city with 190,000 people and an estimated 500,000 residents in Nuevo Laredo.

As many as 10 million people live along the U.S.-Mexican border, and together Laredo and Nuevo Laredo reflect many of the opportunities and challenges the region faces. Laredo and Nuevo Laredo share the same air, water source, and many of the same health risks present in communities along the 2,000-mile border that stretches from San Diego to Brownsville, Texas. Left unchecked, communicable diseases that confront border residents pose risks to cities far from the border because of migration, tourism, and the transit associated with international trade.