Day of the Dead, also known as All Souls Day, is a celebration with a Mexican origin, where people who have sadly lost their lives are honored. During this holiday, an altar is made with several items so that that these souls can return on November 2nd.

It is known that there is a high population of Mexicans in the United States, which is why a lot of families make their altars and/or tributes on Day of the Dead over there. However, sometimes they prefer getting these items in Tijuana or other Mexican cities, which is why we are reminding you here that there are some things you cannot cross when you come back to the United States.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reminded American citizens about the agricultural items that are not allowed entry into the United States. Among these there are murraya or orange jasmine, oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, sour oranges, sweet limes, guavas, mangoes, peaches, and pomegranates.

The main reason these items are prohibited is because of citrus greening, also known as “huanglongbing,” a disease that can infect most citrus varieties and some ornamental plants (such as orange jasmine) which can spread this disease.

Failure to declare prohibited agricultural items also can result in fines. Depending on the severity of the violation, fines can run as high as $1,000 and up to more than $250,000 for commercial importations. Click here if you want to know more about agricultural items crossing into the United States.