Can you take a snapshot of the United States Mission in Mexico? Why not! On a winter’s day, we put cameras in the hands of more than 300 volunteer photographers at the U.S. Embassy and all nine U.S. Consulates in Mexico. Culled from their 10,000 photos, this sweeping collage tells the story of what happens every day in Mission Mexico.

And what a story it is. On any given day, one million people cross the 2000-mile long border between the U.S. and Mexico while $1 billion in trade passes between our two countries. Monarch butterflies and major airlines fly through our shared skies while gray whales and cruise ships ply the seas along our shared coastlines.

It falls to the U.S. Mission in Mexico to manage the large number of issues and programs that touch the lives of U.S. and Mexican citizens in whichever country they may reside. We protect American citizens, issue visas, promote trade events, organize cultural exchanges, and improve law enforcement. Every day our Mexican and American employees work together to improve relations between the United States and Mexico. This book tells that story through their eyes.

Welcome to A Day in the Life: Misión Diplomática de los Estados Unidos de América en México, a day filled with visa lines and interviews, with business agreements, with partnerships to save rare species, with shared commitments to solve mutual problems, and much more. We are proud of the work we do, and proud to share it with you.