Why southern border towns are frustrated by the immigration debate [Video]

The U.S.-Mexico border as described on the campaign trail or seen on the news can easily create a picture of all border towns as lawless and chaotic. 

But the reality is more nuanced, as a CBS News crew learned during a 1,600-mile trip from McAllen, Texas, to the California coast.

Laredo, Texas, was ranked as one of the safest cities in the state, according to analysis from the CBS News data team. Mayor Victor Trevino said his city is not the Wild West he often sees depicted. 

“The cartels, there’s crime and this and that, which is not true,” Trevino told CBS News. 

He points to a different kind of surge, in which $320 billion in microchips, produce and General Motors and Tesla car parts come by train and truck annually through the Port of Laredo, America’s busiest port of entry.