Along the border, the beheadings and bombings carried out by drug cartels are drawing comparisons to murders by Muslim extremists — not surprising, given the war-like death toll of 8,100 so far this year in Mexico, including about 50 casualties last weekend. Yet diplomats from both sides reject the notion raised regularly by government officials and media outlets that Mexico is a “failed state.” The horrors of some communities, they told a border security conference last week in El Paso, overshadow the fact that parts of the country remain stable and are thriving economically.
West Texas
West Texas is home to the nation’s largest oil field, the Permian Basin. The region is defined by its energy production and wide-open spaces. It also includes Big Bend country and cities such as El Paso, Midland and Odessa.
Posted in
Demographics
Alan Bersin: The TT Interview
The commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection on why he believes the Texas-Mexico border is secure, why deportations of criminals have reached unprecedented levels, why trade between the U.S. and Mexico still thrives and what motivates most undocumented immigrants to enter this country illegally.
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Demographics
TribBlog: Legalize It? You Must Be High
Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske laid out the case against legalizing marijuana and other drugs today at a border security conference.
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Demographics
TribBlog: Ambassador to Mexico Talks Border Security, Trade
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual kicked off the 2010 Border Security Conference in El Paso with a recap of the violence to date, and his explanation of why the border will survive.
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Demographics
“We Need Your Help Here”
A government report finds the U.S. has been too slow to aid Mexico and other crime-ridden countries at a time when drug-related violence is escalating. Efforts to combat alien smuggling have also fallen short.
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Criminal Justice
Weed All About It
For nearly a decade, advocates of expanded use of medical marijuana have been spurned by the Texas Legislature — but giving up isn’t how they roll. So they’re trying again with a limited proposal.
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Demographics
Checkpoint Blues
As more U.S. Border Patrol agents descend on the Texas-Mexico border, residents of some of the most remote West Texas towns say they feel harassed and disrespected by the new arrivals watching over their communities.
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Demographics
Barack the Enforcer
Despite grousing from congressmen and state officials in Arizona and Texas — notably Gov. Rick Perry — that the Obama administration has abdicated its role in the protecting the nation’s borders from illegal immigration, the Department of Homeland Security’s largest investigative units this year each recorded their highest monthly number of cases referred for prosecution since the Bush administration, according to a report from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.
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State Government
On the Records: Sheriffs’ Endorsements Similar to Obama-McCain Map [Updated]
Most of the gubernatorial endorsements today by Texas sheriffs — though not all — map to the 2008 presidential election results.
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Demographics
TribBlog: Juárez’s Outgoing Mayor Mulls Future
Jose Reyes Ferriz on what he’ll do next, why his successor isn’t corrupt and why the violence in his crime-ridden city will continue.
