La Nueva Frontera: Just Another Day In A Bridge Town

There are five reasons why the twin cities of Laredo are booming. And every one of them spans the Rio Grande

6:30 a.m. OLD DOWNTOWN BRIDGE First come the schoolkids--dozens of them, over the old concrete bridge, some in the plaid-skirt, white-blouse uniforms of Roman Catholic schools, others dressed public school casual. Some were born in the U.S.; some have permanent residency status there, but their parents prefer to live on the Mexican side, where it's cheaper. So they use a relative's U.S. address to register for school and commute. The two local school districts (one larger than the state of Delaware) don't know how many students are from the other side; they are forbidden by law to ask. In any case,...

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