Nogales is a smaller community of 240,000 resting on a high mesa of the famed Sonoran Desert. Nogales is 60 miles south of Tucson on the US - Mexican international border. Growth is stabile, with many new immigrants being drawn to Nogales expanding employment opportunities in its maquiladora base. Nogales' sister city in the US is Nogales, Arizona, which has 23,533 inhabitants. Santa Cruz County holds just under 30,000 inhabitants.

Sonora is the second largest State in Mexico and is located in the northwestern region of the country. It shares 365 miles of border with Arizona and New Mexico. In additions, Sonora has a 746 miles coastline on the Gulf of California. The state's population is 1.9 million and growing. Hermosillo is the site of a very large Ford Motor Company Plant.

Nogales terrain is that of high desert, altitude of 3,800 feet. Most memorable icon of the region is the elegant saguaro cactus resembling a set of stovepipes. The community is predominantly an agricultural one, with stable families that have lived there for many generations. Nogales experiences frequent heavy rains of short duration, in the mid-summer, which flash flood low-lying areas.

Maquiladoras in Nogales grew from businesses in Phoenix and Tucson seeking low labor costs for assembly and sewing operations. Currently the State of Sonora actively markets the region for new maquilas, in hopes of diversifying the economy beyond agriculture. Nogales 79 maquilas employ a total of 23,202 workers.

Once crossed over the border which is 200 miles to the north, trucks must travel an additional 50 miles to the nearest US Interstate, then: 185 miles West to Sand Diego and port facilities; 255 miles North to Los Angeles on I-5; and 415 miles East to El Paso, Texas and mid-point of the border.