This Week In Immigration

In this week’s episode, we’re re-releasing a conversation from May 2022. The leak of the Supreme Court draft decision that would overturn the seminal Roe v. Wade abortion case has sent shockwaves through the country and raises questions and implications for other long-standing precedent Supreme Court decisions, including Plyler v. Doe, a 1982 decision that ruled that undocumented immigrant children could not be excluded from K through 12 public schools. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has expressed interest in resurrecting the case and challenging the ruling. Leon Fresco, an immigration attorney at Holland & Knight, and Melissa Lazarin, Senior Advisor for K-12 Policy at the Migration Policy Institute’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, join to discuss this high-stakes court battle.

In this week’s episode, we’re re-releasing a conversation from November 2021. Every year millions of families across the country gather to celebrate that quintessential American holiday: Thanksgiving. It is a story of immigration. But how do the millions of recently-arrived immigrants to this country view this holiday? Theresa Cardinal Brown and Sadikshya Nepal are joined by Rachel Peric, Executive Director of Welcoming America, and several BPC staff members to discuss how families combine traditions to make this holiday their own.

In this week’s episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown delves into history and reality of how immigrants vote in the United States. Theresa is joined by Rachel Orey, Director of the Bipartisan Policy Center Elections Project, to discuss current legislation that defines the eligibility for voting and protects against non-citizen voting. Then, Theresa welcomes Irene Bloemraad, Professor at the University of British Columbia and Co-director of the Centre for Migration Studies, to dive into history of different immigrant groups to the United States and how they exercise their voting rights when they become citizens.  

In this week’s episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown discusses how immigrant rights organizations and other emergency response organizations are assisting immigrants and their families affected by recent hurricanes Helene and Milton, as well as similar past natural disasters in the United States. Theresa is joined by Zach Wolgemuth, Director of Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery at Church World Service (CWS), along with his colleague Mabel Hernandez, Deputy Director of Operations for the South East Region of the United States. Then, Theresa welcomes Cesar Espinosa, Co-Founder and Executive Director of FIEL (Familias Inmigrantes y Estudiantes en la Lucha), the largest immigrant-led civil rights organization in Texas, to discuss the importance of networks and immigrant leadership in supporting their communities after disasters. 

In this week’s episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown covers how DHS and USCIS are incorporating AI into their immigration work.  Theresa is joined by Paromita Shah, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Just Futures Law, who organized a letter signed by over 140 immigrant and civil rights groups to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas urging him to end the use of AI. Theresa and Jack Malde then discuss the inauguration of Mexico’s first female president and the challenge of distinguishing who is legally in the United States in the current era. 

In this week’s episode, we focus on the increasingly salient issue of climate migration, delving into Climate Migration Council “A Compendium on Climate Mobility”. BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown talks to Shana Tabak, the Director of Immigration at Emerson Collective and a Senior Advisor to the Climate Migration Council, and Elizabeth Ferris, Director of the Institute for the Study of International Migration in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. We cover the issue of climate migration, the work of the Climate Migration Council, and the solutions needed.  https://www.climatemigrationcouncil.org/compendium

In this week’s episode, we’re re-releasing a conversation from September 2021. BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown reflects on how the 9/11 terrorist attacks reshaped our immigration system, and what it looked like before that pivotal day. 

In this week’s episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown talks to Michelle Hackman, a US immigration reporter at the Wall Street Journal, about a recent decline in border crossings and to what extent we can credit the Biden Administration and its cooperation with Mexico. Then, Theresa and BPC Associate Director Jack Malde discuss the Biden Administration’s “Keeping Families Together” program which grants parole in place to certain noncitizen spouses and noncitizen stepchildren of U.S. citizens, and was implemented this week. Theresa and Jack cover how the program may work and some potential concerns.    Wall St. Journal Border Reporting: How the U.S. and Mexico Drove Border Crossings Down in an Election Year - WSJ  Parole in Place for Spouses of U.S. Citizens: Keeping Families Together | USCIS    Opening (00:00) Michelle Hackman and Border Crossing Declines (01:03) "Keeping Families Together" (42:00) Credits (01:01:20)

In this week’s episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown delves into new U.S. Immigration data findings, covered in recent reports by the Pew Research Center and Congressional Budget Office. First, Mark Hugo Lopez, the director of race and ethnicity research at the Pew Research Center, joins us to discuss new estimates and demographics of the foreign-born in the United States. Then, BPC Associate Director Jack Malde discusses with Theresa the Congressional Budget Office’s new research on how a recent immigration surge has affected the federal budget and national economy.  Key findings about U.S. immigrants | Pew Research Center - https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/07/22/key-findings-about-us-immigrants/ Effects of the Immigration Surge on the Federal Budget and the Economy | Congressional Budget Office - https://www.cbo.gov/publication/60165

In this week’s episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown delves into a recent Biden administration executive order that helps Dreamers get a work visa, with Dan Berger, a noted immigration lawyer, writer and speaker, and fellow at Cornell Law School. The pair discusses what new guidance on D-3 waivers means for DACA recipients and international students. Then, given President Biden’s decision to not seek reelection, Jack Malde, BPC Associate Director, discusses with Theresa potential immigration policy actions under either a second Trump administration or a Kamala Harris administration.    Opening (00:09) D-3 Waivers Discussion with Dan (01:27)  Harris Vs. Trump? (31:10)

In this week’s episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown delves into the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn the 40-year old judicial doctrine of deference to executive agencies that has been defining American administrative law, and the impacts for U.S. immigration policy and practice. with two distinguished guests: J.D. Rackey, Senior Policy Analyst at the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Structural Democracy Project, to discuss the impact of the decision on the roles of the legislative and executive branches of government, and Mark Stevens, a top-rated Washington DC lawyer with expertise in immigration litigation, to explain how the SCOTUS decision changes legal practice for immigration attorneys and their clients.  

In this week’s episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown delves into the recent Mexican presidential election and its implications for U.S. immigration policy with three distinguished guests. Joining us are Andrew Selee, President of the Migration Policy Institute, José Díaz Briseño, a U.S.-based reporter for the Mexican newspaper REFORMA, and Pulitzer-prize winning freelance journalist, Emily Green. We discuss Claudia Sheinbaum, the first female president-elect of Mexico, what her election might mean for cooperation at the U.S.-Mexico border, and what changes in migration dynamics we can expect going forward. Together, they take us through the changing landscape of U.S.-Mexico relations and its implications for binational relations, immigration, and border policy. 

In this week’s episode, BPC Associate Director Jack Malde interviews the Director of BPC’s Congress Project John Richter and BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown about a recent bipartisan visit to the southern border. The visit, arranged as part of BPC’s American Congressional Exchange (ACE) program, brought six members of Congress to the border to better understand the urgent challenges and opportunities for bipartisan cooperation on U.S. immigration and border policy. Theresa then chats to one of the members, Representative Nikki Budzinski (D-IL), about her thoughts on the trip and what she learned from it.   The Bipartisan Policy Center’s American Congressional Exchange Program: https://bipartisanpolicy.org/project/american-congressional-exchange/  ACE Crosses the Border and Party Lines in Arizona and Nogales, Mexico: https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/ace-immigration-and-border-visit/  00:00 Intro 00:58 John Richter and Theresa on ACE Trip 34:22 Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-IL) and Theresa on ACE

In this week’s episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown talks with Michael Clemens, professor of economics at George Mason University, who has studied the economic causes and effects of migration all over the world. His latest research, based on detailed examination of border crossing data, shows that offering more lawful pathways to immigrants reduces unlawful border crossings. We also talk about the importance of good data for examining immigration policy and how traditional understandings of the linkages between migration and development may not be correct.   Michael Clemens Bio: Economics | Faculty and Staff: Michael A Clemens (gmu.edu)  PIIE Article: Offering more lawful pathways for US border crossings reduces unlawful crossings | PIIE  Journal of Economic Perspectives Article: Economics and Emigration: Trillion-Dollar Bills on the Sidewalk? - American Economic Association (aeaweb.org) 

In this week’s episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown and Associate Director Jack Malde chat with Jason Wendle, an expert in migration and labor mobility. We speak about various initiatives that Jason is involved in that facilitate migration from lower-income to higher-income countries by increasing the use of existing migratory pathways. Such initiatives can benefit those on the move, the countries that welcome them, and the countries they (often temporarily) leave behind, without the need to change immigration law.  The Migration Opportunity: https://globaldevincubator.org/initiative/the-migration-opportunity/  Labor Mobility Partnerships (LaMP): https://lampforum.org/  Malengo: https://malengo.org/  Talent Mobility Fund: https://www.talentmobility.fund/ 

In this week’s episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown and Senior Policy Analyst Jack Malde chat with Alexander Kustov, an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. We discuss Professor Kustov’s research on how we might, or might not, be able to shift public opinion in the United States to increase support for immigration. One promising approach, that will be the subject of Professor Kustov’s forthcoming book “In Our Interest: How to Make Immigration Popular”, is adopting demonstrably beneficial policies that make voters confident their government is managing immigration in their interest. 

In this week’s episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown and Senior Policy Analyst Jack Malde chat with Camille Mackler, the Founder and Executive Director of Immigrant ARC (I-ARC), a collaborative of over 80 legal service providers in New York State. I-ARC works with community leaders, legal service providers, state and local governments, law enforcement agencies, and Federal agencies and policymakers to ensure immigrants have access to a fair and efficient immigration system. We discuss I-ARC’s beginnings, the challenges it faces, its work helping newly arrived immigrants get work permits, and how federal, state, and local governments can help.  Read more about I-ARC: https://www.immigrantarc.org/ 

In this week’s episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown and Senior Policy Analyst Jack Malde chat with Michael D. Lumpkin, the Chief of Staff for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or “ICE”. We discuss the missions of ICE, the various challenges facing ICE including budgetary constraints, and its efforts to address the unprecedented number of arrivals at the US-Mexico border. We also discuss the importance of technology and innovation in ICE’s operations and Mr. Lumpkin’s views looking forward. 

In this week’s episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown and Senior Policy Analyst Jack Malde discuss the role that recent high levels of immigration have played in driving the economy. They then welcome BPC Associate Director Emerson Sprick to discuss the role that increased immigration can play in securing Social Security solvency. 

In this week’s episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown and Senior Policy Analyst Jack Malde do a deep dive into the claim, made by several Republicans, that President Biden can use his executive power to solve the border crisis without Congress.