This Week in Immigration

In this episode of This Week in Immigration we focus once again on the US-Mexico border.  First, Hanadi Jordan speaks with David Stout, a county commissioner from El Paso County Texas, and chair of the National Association of Counties’ Immigration Reform Task Force to get the local perspective on the situation at the border, what counties like El Paso are doing to manage the arrivals of immigrants, the recent visits to El Paso of President Biden and a bipartisan group of Senators and what he thinks needs to be done.  Next, Theresa Cardinal Brown interviews Andrew Selee, President of the Migration Policy Institute about the issue of migration in the hemisphere, US-Mexico cooperation at the North American Leader’s Summit and what else needs to be done to manage what is an increasingly complex issue for all the countries of Latin America. This episode was recorded on January 20 and January 24, 2023.

Happy New Year! This Week in Immigration starts off the new year by looking back at the lame duck Congress of 2022, and how immigration issues fared, and a brief look at what the long set of votes for Speaker of the House might mean for the prospects of immigration legislation in the new congress. We then chat with Christopher Sands of the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Canada Institute about the North American Leaders Summit between Canada, Mexico and the United States, immigration issues between Canada and the U.S. and what Canada might do to assist with the challenge of migration in the hemisphere. We also welcome new TWII host, Hanadi Jordan to the podcast. This episode was recorded on January 11, 2023.

In our annual year-end wrap-up, we are joined by Ellen Gilmer, senior reporter at Bloomberg Government, Michelle Hackman, reporter at the Wall Street Journal, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, reporter at CBS News, and podcast regular Theresa Cardinal Brown to break down this year’s top immigration stories. We delve into Title 42, DACA, the courts’ impact on immigration policy, Ukrainian refugees, migrant busing, and more. A note for listeners: this episode was recorded on December 7, 2022.

In this week’s special Thanksgiving episode, we continue our tradition of looking at this most American of holidays from the perspectives of new Americans. Theresa Cardinal Brown is joined by Anya McMurray, President and COO of Welcome.US, to talk about how America has welcomed diverse immigrants over the last two years, from Afghans, to Ukrainians, to Venezuelans, to the people of New York City and Martha’s Vineyard who welcomed migrants bussed there from the border. Then, we welcome Lucija Bebek, BPC’s spring immigration intern, who shares her own immigrant Thanksgiving story.

In this week’s episode, we’re breaking down the midterms, and what they might mean for the issue of immigration. Theresa Cardinal Brown is joined by Laura Hall, the managing director of BPC Action, and Casey Christine Higgins, Senior Counsel at Akin Gump to chat about how the issue of immigration played in the midterms, what the election might signal about lame duck legislation on immigration, and how the next Congress might approach immigration. The episode was recorded on Wednesday, November 9, before all the races had been called, so we explored multiple different scenarios of House and Senate control and their impact on possible immigration legislation.

In this week’s episode, we discuss the Biden administration’s new parole program for Venezuelans – the details of the program and who qualifies, the reasoning behind the program, how the dynamics at the border affect this program and possible future programs modeled after it, and how the program might inform the future of the resettlement regime. Yael Schacher, Director for the Americas and Europe at Refugees International, Matthew La Corte, Government Affairs Manager for Immigration Policy at the Niskanen Center, and Theresa Brown, This Week in Immigration regular, join to discuss.

In this week’s episode, we take the show on the road, recording live from the Un-Convention 2022 at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Hannah Tyler and Theresa Cardinal Brown interview delegates at the Unconvention to get their thoughts on immigration, and are joined by special guests John Wood Jr., a national leader for Braver Angels, Michael Steele, former Republican National Committee chair and Maryland Lieutenant Governor, and Nick Troiano, Executive Director of Unite America. John talks about how to have more constructive conversations about controversial topics like immigration; Michael discusses how much has changed for Republicans on the issue of immigration in the last decade; and Nick shares his thoughts on how to address the growing partisan divide on immigration.

In this week’s episode, we’re focusing on DACA, as the program and its recipients wait for a decision on the program’s legality from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. We’ll welcome Niña Ledonio, BPC’s Corporate Relations Manager and a DACA recipient, to talk about the program’s impact on her life. This Week in Immigration regular, Theresa Cardinal Brown, will then join to talk through the policy side of DACA, walking us through the Biden administration’s recent final rule and the maze of litigation that DACA faces. Finally, Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, the President of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, will join us to discuss the Afghan Adjustment Act.

In this week’s episode, we’re going across the pond to talk about the United Kingdom’s approach to immigration, and how that approach might change with the election of a new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, the appointment of a new Cabinet, and the sad news of the Queen’s passing. We’ll welcome three guests – Liz Mair, a British-American political and communications consultant; Cris Ramón, Global and U.S. Immigration Policy Researcher and Analyst; and Matt Dathan, Home Affairs Editor at The Times UK.

In this week’s episode, we’re focusing on immigration and the workforce, specifically the role that legal immigration reform can play in reshaping our nation’s workforce in the short- and long-term. Theresa Cardinal Brown, BPC’s Managing Director of Immigration and Cross-border Policy, will be joined by Ben Gitis, Associate Director of the Economic Policy Project at BPC, and Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President of the American Action Forum.