Border control was a major topic for students, faculty and staff during a Sept. 19 panel discussion on SE Campus.

Dr. Kenyon Zimmer, an assistant professor who teaches doctoral-level classes at the University of Texas at Arlington, led the panel.

“From a historical point of view, it’s simply not true that the United States has lost control of the borders,” he said. “And that according to the congressional study in 2009, increasing security in border defense has resulted in no discernible decrease in illegal immigrants passing over the legal U.S. border.”

Fellow panelist and history instructor Eric Salas said the event gave both sides of the issue.

“I believe that one of the highlights of the discussion was the contrast between the youths, that it wasn’t necessarily one-sided and that both sides were equally presented so that the audience could then make their judgments or their opinions on immigration,” Salas said.

Hannah Ward seemed to think both sides were represented equally.

“I thought that it was very informative,” she said. “I thought it was interesting getting both sides, both the conservative and the more liberal approaches to immigration, and having that after some historical background.”

Panelist Darrell Castillo, government instructor, said the program was beneficial for students.

“I think the provocative nature of the discussion went a long way to produce students’ questions about the subject of immigration,” he said. “I think it’s for the students to think critically, and I think it accomplished the goal.”

—Joseph Ford