McAllen is the largest city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States, and the 22nd-most populous city in Texas. It is located at the southern tip of the state in the Rio Grande Valley, on the Mexico–United States border. The city limits extend south to the Rio Grande, across from the Mexican city of Reynosa. McAllen is about 70 mi (110 km) west of the Gulf of Mexico. As of the 2020 census, McAllen's population was 142,210. It is the fifth-most populous metropolitan area (McAllen–Edinburg–Mission) in the state of Texas, and the binational Reynosa–McAllen metropolitan area counts a population of more than 1.5 million.
The Lower Rio Grande Valley, commonly known as the Rio Grande Valley or locally as the Valley or RGV, is a region spanning the border of Texas and Mexico located in a floodplain of the Rio Grande near its mouth. The region includes the southernmost tip of South Texas and a portion of northern Tamaulipas, Mexico. It consists of the Brownsville, Harlingen, Weslaco, Pharr, McAllen, Edinburg, Mission, San Juan, and Rio Grande City metropolitan areas in the United States and the Matamoros, Río Bravo, and Reynosa metropolitan areas in Mexico. The area is generally bilingual in English and Spanish, with a fair amount of Spanglish due to the region's diverse history and transborder agglomerations It is home to some of the poorest cities in the nation, as well as many unincorporated, persistent poverty communities called colonias. A large seasonal influx occurs of "winter Texans" — people who come down from the north for the winter and then return north before summer arrives.
The Brownsville & Matamoros International Bridge, also known as B&M International Bridge, Brownsville-Matamoros International Bridge and Express Bridge, is one of three international bridges that cross the U.S.-Mexico border between the cities of Brownsville, Texas, and Matamoros, Tamaulipas. This international bridge unites the Matamoros–Brownsville Metropolitan Area, which counts with a population of 1,136,995, making it the 4th largest metropolitan area in the Mexico-US border.
The Pharr–Reynosa International Bridge is an international bridge across the Rio Grande, along the U.S.–Mexico border. It connects the city of Pharr in the U.S. state of Texas with the city of Reynosa in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. On the U.S. side, the bridge connects to U.S. Route 281 via Texas State Highway Spur 600. On the Mexico side, it provides access to Mexican Federal Highway 2. The bridge handles both commercial and passenger vehicles. Since 1996, all trucks have been diverted here from the McAllen–Hidalgo–Reynosa International Bridge, which is located upriver to the west.
The McAllen–Hidalgo–Reynosa International Bridge is a road bridge completed in 1926, crossing the Rio Grande between the state of Tamaulipas in northeastern Mexico and the state of Texas in the southwestern United States.
The Progreso–Nuevo Progreso International Bridge, officially the Weslaco–Progreso International Bridge and also known as the B&P Bridge, is an international bridge over the Rio Grande on the U.S.–Mexico border, connecting the cities of Progreso, Texas and Nuevo Progreso, Río Bravo, Tamaulipas. It has been in operation since 1952.
Federal Highway 2 is a free part of the Mexican federal highway corridors that runs along the U.S. border. The highway is in two separate improved segments, starting in the west at Tijuana, Baja California, on the Pacific coast and ending in the east in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, on the Gulf of Mexico. Fed. 2 passes through the border states of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas. It has a total length of 1,987 kilometres (1,235 mi); 1,343 kilometres (835 mi) in the west and 644 kilometres (400 mi) in the east.
The Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection (SENTRI) provides expedited U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) processing, at the U.S.-Mexico border, of pre-approved travelers considered low-risk. Voluntarily applicants must undergo a thorough background check against criminal, customs, immigration, law enforcement, and terrorist databases; a 10-fingerprint law enforcement check; and a personal interview with a CBP Officer. The total enrollment fee is $122.50, and SENTRI status is valid for 5 years.
The Gateway to the Americas International Bridge is one of four vehicular international bridges located in the cities of Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, that connect the United States and Mexico over the Rio Grande. It is owned and operated by the City of Laredo and the Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes. It is also known as Laredo International Bridge 1.
The Juárez–Lincoln International Bridge is one of four vehicular international bridges located in the cities of Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, that connect the United States and Mexico over the Rio Grande. It is owned and operated by City of Laredo and the Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transportes.
The Laredo–Colombia Solidarity International Bridge is one of four vehicular international bridges located on the U.S.-Mexico border in the city of Laredo, Texas; it connects Laredo over the Rio Grande with Colombia in Anáhuac, Nuevo León. It is owned and operated by the City of Laredo and the Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes.
The World Trade International Bridge is one of four international bridges located in the cities of Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, that connect the United States and Mexico over the Rio Grande. It is owned and operated by City of Laredo and the Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes. It is also known as Laredo International Bridge 4.
The Rio Grande City – Camargo International Bridge is an international bridge along the United States–Mexico border between the U.S. state of Texas and the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is a crossing of the Rio Grande that connects the cities of Rio Grande City, Texas and Camargo, Tamaulipas. The bridge is also known as the Starr – Camargo Bridge and, in Spanish, Puente Camargo.
The Free Trade International Bridge is an international bridge which crosses the Rio Grande connecting the United States-Mexico border cities of Los Indios, Texas and Matamoros, Tamaulipas. The bridge is also known as "Los Indios-Lucio Blanco Bridge", "Puente Lucio Blanco-Los Indios", "Puente Internacional Libre Comercio" and "Los Indios Free Trade Bridge".
The Bridge of the Americas (BOTA) is a group of international bridges which cross the Rio Grande and Texas State Highway Loop 375, connecting the Mexico–United States border cities of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and El Paso, Texas, via the MX 45 from the south and the I-110 from the north, crossing the El Paso BOTA Port of Entry. The bridge is known colloquially as "Puente Libre" in Ciudad Juárez, officially as "Puente Internacional Córdova-Las Américas" or "Puente Internacional Córdova de las Américas", and also as "Puente Río Bravo", "Cordova Bridge", and "Free Bridge".
The San Ysidro Port of Entry is the largest land border crossing between San Diego and Tijuana, and the fourth-busiest land border crossing in the world with 70,000 northbound vehicles and 20,000 northbound pedestrians crossing each day, in addition to southbound traffic. It connects Mexican Federal Highway 1 on the Mexican side with Interstate 5 on the American side. The San Ysidro Port of Entry is one of three ports of entry in the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan region.
Reynosa–McAllen, also known as McAllen–Reynosa, or simply as Borderplex, is one of the six international conurbations along the Mexico–U.S border. The city of Reynosa is situated in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, while the city of McAllen is located in the American state of Texas, directly north across the bank of the Rio Grande. This area has a population of roughly 1,500,000, making it the largest and most populous in the state of Tamaulipas, and third most populous on the US–Mexico border.
The El Paso Stanton Street Port of Entry, located at the Good Neighbor International Bridge is limited to processing passenger vehicles that are enrolled in the SENTRI program. It is open from 6:00 AM - midnight weekdays, and 8:00 AM - midnight Saturdays and Sundays.
The Anzalduas Port of Entry opened on December 15, 2009, with the completion of the Anzalduas International Bridge. The bridge is over three miles long and cost over $28 million to build. It was designed to divert traffic from the congested Hidalgo Texas Port of Entry.
The Hidalgo Texas Port of Entry is located at the northern end of the McAllen–Hidalgo–Reynosa International Bridge, in the city of Hidalgo, Hidalgo County, Texas.
