Douglas, Arizona - The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) hosted a “Land Acceptance Ceremony” on Friday, Sept. 14, 2018, to officially accept a parking-lot donation from the city of Douglas. The parking lot, located on First Street and Customs Avenue, has become property of the U.S. government and CBP’s Raul Hector Castro Port of Entry.

The event included brief remarks from a few distinguished guests from the federal, state and local governments.

The Raul Hector Castro Port of Entry is the third largest commercial port in the state of Arizona.  In calendar year 2017, the port of entry processed over 30,000 commercial truck arrivals.  The value of imported goods at Douglas during calendar year 2017 was just over $1 billion.  Additionally, the port processed more than 1.7 million arriving cars and over 850,000 pedestrians in CY2017, and a combined total of over 4.1 million arriving passengers and pedestrians.

Mrs. Petra Horne, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Acting Director Field Operations - Tucson Field Office commented, “On behalf of CBP, I would like to thank the City of Douglas for their hard work, generosity, and forward thinking.  It brings me great joy to know that the border cities such as Douglas recognize the importance of our ports of entry to the economic stability of the United States. Partnerships are vital to our overall success on cross-border trade and travel.”   

Speakers at the event included: Douglas Mayor Robert Uribe, Mrs. Petra Horne, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Acting Director Field Operations - Tucson Field Office; and Mr. Anthony Kleppe, GSA Region 9 Program Manager.