Green light from the border to K.C.: as part of the NAFTA Super Highway system, a Mexican customs inspection facility is planned to be constructed on U.S. soil in Kansas City, Missouri, far away from the border.

Although not as attention grabbing as the Dubai port story, the current pilot project to establish a Mexican government customs inspection facility in Kansas City, Missouri, is just as shocking. As a resident of Kansas City, I have watched the politics of this project play out, and have reviewed the internal documents, obtained under the Missouri Sunshine law. The Mexican customs inspection facility will be the first one of its kind on U.S. soil. The project has the approval of U.S. Customs and is currently being reviewed by the U.S. State Department for final approval.

Initially, the facility will inspect U.S. goods headed to our neighbor to the south. Both K.C. SmartPort, Inc. and city officials have strenuously denied that the new joint customs facility will handle northbound traffic. However, Kansas City Councilwoman Bonnie Sue Cooper (K.C. SmartPort board member) told Dos Mundos newspaper in Kansas City, "Shippers can send their freight into the United States and will not be held at the Laredo border." A June 2006 Logistics Today article, entitled "It's what's inside that counts," explained: "Rail plays a key part in SmartPort offerings and the evolving trade corridor between Mexico's Port of Lazaro Cardenas and Kansas City promises to bring increasing amounts of Asian shipments to the U.S. from that Latin American port."

Currently, freight from Asia makes its way into Kansas City through the Long Beach and Seattle ports. One of the stated reasons for the Mexican customs facility is to alleviate congestion at our ports and long lines at the border. For all practical purposes, the congestion--at least at the Laredo border--will be moved to Kansas City.

A review of the documents obtained from the city indicates that the Mexican government would not have moved on this project without assurances that it would not have to pony up the cash for either the building or the equipment. The Kansas City Council, which rarely turns down an opportunity to dip into the taxpayers' pockets, created a $3.1 million "loan" package for K.C. SmartPort, Inc. for the construction of the facility on city property. SmartPort, Inc. has also applied for a $1.5 million federal grant from the U.S. Commerce Department's Economic Development Administration (EDA).

Inexplicably, the land that the city so generously leased to K.C. SmartPort for 50 years is already leased to another company, the American Royal Foundation, until 2045. To buy out the lease from the American Royal Foundation may cost the city an estimated $6 million more of taxpayer money.

Another thorny issue is sovereignty. Again, K.C. SmartPort, Inc. and city officials have denied that the facility will be sovereign territory of Mexico. However, the documents reveal otherwise. An email record from Chris Gutierrez, president of K.C. SmartPort, dated June 21, 2004, noted, "This space [for the customs facility] would need to be designated as Mexican sovereign territory and meet certain requirements."

A 2004 Logistics Today article, "Going for Broke," also highlighted the sovereignty issue: "One holdup now is that the U.S. Department of State wants to know the exact location of the building which will house the Mexican Customs Project, which SmartPort will ultimately provide. State is involved because the facility will be sovereign Mexican territory." The Southern Growth Policy Board, a public policy think tank, mentions the sovereignty angle on its website: "Meanwhile, SmartPort negotiated with the Mexican Customs service to locate a facility in Kansas City--on Mexican sovereign territory."

Joyce Mucci is the executive director of the Mid-America Immigration Reform Coalition.