Immigration Integration is a term used to describe immigrants who have the same opportunities as natives. (Jesus Sanchez/Borderzine.com)

The integration of immigrants into society benefits them and their new country

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EL PASO — When an immigrant in France is stopped and searched by police in a subway or airport, nobody looks twice. In France where immigrants are usually Muslims, North Africans, or Algerian that police action is a routine daily activity. In the United States, where immigrant usually means Mexican, we would see that profiling by police as a violation of human rights. But the United States is not the only country with immigration issues. Other countries around the globe also have to deal with immigrants entering their country illegally such as Central Americans migrating to Mexico.

Members of the UTEP community greet UTEP Police officers to thank them for their services as custodials of the community's security. (Jesus Sanchez/Borderzine.com)

The borderland changed forever after 9/11

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EL PASO— The tragic attack on America  that happened thousands of miles away 10 years ago rippled through the border region, tightening up security at the checkpoints that divide Ciudad Juárez, México from El Paso, Texas. Students, professors, and faculty at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) gathered at a ceremony remembering and reflecting on the event on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. UTEP student Karina Lopez, who crosses the border often said that ever since that awful day the border checkpoints have been a hassle. “Traveling across the border became irrationally long. Security became so high and people became paranoid about crossing the border, when before it only took 15 minutes, now it takes up to three hours.”

Lopez says that in a sense, El Paso has changed since the 9/11 attacks.

Stricter law enforcement in México and more effective vigilance on the U.S. side of the border enhance security and trade

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EL PASO – México is going through a structural change to strengthen government and law enforcement in order to combat crime more effectively and weaken the drug cartels, according to a Mexican government official. México has made great strides recruiting police officers and government workers that are not corrupt to help fight the drug cartels, said Alejandro Poire, a spokesman for the Mexican National Security Council and Cabinet. Speaking to leaders of the public and private sectors of México and the United States gathered August 15 and 16 at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) for the Eighth Annual Border Security Conference, Poire said Mexican courts are now prosecuting criminals more swiftly. “México made a massive Congressional reform in 2007,” he said. “In 2006 México only had 6,500 federal police officers and today there are more than 35,000 federal police officers,” Poire said.

Teachers explore their identities to improve pedagogical techniques

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“I wanted to get across to the teachers here that knowing themselves and recognizing their own identity, their restraints and their abilities, to be able to recognize traditions, benefits and beliefs within their own culture,” said Lucille Dominguez, a Lecturer in the College of Education at UTEP speaking at the 5th Annual ABC Conference here.