A Complex Reality: Security, Trade, and the U.S.-Mexico Border

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Questions about the security of U.S. borders and effectiveness of U.S. border controls have been compounded by recent events in Europe and migration from Central America. However, political rhetoric obscures the complexity of North American border relations, which are actually dominated by the growth of beneficial and legal cross-border trade and travel. 

On March 16, Americas Society/Council of the Americas and Foreign Policy at Brookings’ Latin America Initiative will cohost a two-panel discussion exploring how new policies for the U.S.-Mexico border can balance the benefits of a continued rise of legal travel and trade with the simultaneous need for Mexico and the United States to work collaboratively to improve border security. After initial presentations, panelists will take questions from the audience.

Panel 1: Modernizing the U.S.-Mexico Border

• Will Hurd, U.S. Representative (R-TX)
• Beto O'Rourke, U.S. Representative (D-TX)
• Eric Farnsworth, Vice President, Americas Society/Council of the Americas (moderator)

Panel 2: Economic and Security Trends on the U.S.-Mexico Border

• Michael Camuñez, President and CEO, ManattJones Global Strategies LLC
• Angela Kocherga, Borderlands Director, Cronkite News Arizona PBS
• Chappel Lawson, Associate Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Harold Trinkunas, Senior Fellow and Director, Latin America Initiative, Foreign Policy, Brookings Institution (moderator)

Concluding Remarks

• John Cornyn, Senator, R-TX
• Introduction by Arturo Sarukhan, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy and Metropolitan Policy, The Brookings Institution; Board Member, Americas Society

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