#1405 Biden Takes the Helm of Our Inhumane Immigration System

Air Date 3/19/2021

Today we take a look at the decades-old problems with our immigration system, what changes are being made under the new administration, and some of the underlying causes for the massive disfunction we have in addressing the issue.

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Transcript

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SHOW NOTES

Ch. 1: Biden Eyes Sweeping Immigration Reform Legislation - The Mehdi Hasan Show - Air Date 2-18-21

Deputy White House Communications Director Pili Tobar joins Mehdi Hasan to discuss the Biden administration's immigration reform agenda, and how the president plans to get the votes necessary to pass the most comprehensive immigration reform bill in years

Ch. 2: Biden Can't Make Trump's Immigration Cruelty Vanish Overnight - The Mother Jones Podcast - Air Date 2-24-21

Overflowing ICE detention centers. Families separated at the border. A multi-billion-dollar border wall. Over the course of his four-year presidency, Donald Trump used executive power to wage war on the United States’ immigration system

Ch. 3: The First 100: Joy Olson - Only in America with Ali Noorani - Air Date 1-27-21

Among President Biden's immigration actions is a $4 billion four-year plan to address root causes of migration in Central America. But when lawmakers talk about addressing migration's “root causes,” what do they really mean?

Ch. 4: Despite Immigration Pledges, Biden Admin Detains Thousands of Unaccompanied Migrant Children - Democracy Now! - Air Date 3-11-21

The Biden administration is struggling to address the flow of migrant children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border without their parents, many fleeing extreme violence, poverty and natural disasters in their home countries

Ch. 5: Biden's Immigration Agenda Tested at the Border - The Mehdi Hasan Show - Air Date 3-9-21

With the number of unaccompanied migrant kids in U.S. custody tripling in recent weeks, Florida Immigration Coalition Spokesperson Melissa Taveras joins Mehdi Hasan to discuss the implications for Biden's immigration policy.

Ch. 6: Shut Down Detention Centers: Join the #FirstTen to #CommunitiesNotCages Week of Action, March 22-26 via @DetentionWatch - Best of the Left Activism

Join Detention Watch Network's #FirstTen to #CommunitiesNotCages Week of Action - March 22nd-26th

Ch. 7: The business of immigrant labor w/ Ruth Milkman - This Is Hell! - Air Date 3-10-21

Sociologist Ruth Milkman on the dynamics of immigration law and low-wage work, and her new book "Immigrant Labor and the New Precariat" for Polity Books.

Ch. 8: The Democrats' Long War on Immigrants - Intercepted - Air Date 2-17-21

As Joe Biden took the oath of office this January, Guatemalan security forces at the Honduran border thwarted thousands of U.S.-bound migrants. Decades-long American imperialism has facilitated displacement throughout the region

MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)

Ch. 9: The Democrats' Long War on Immigrants Part 2 - The Intercept - Air Date 2-17-21

Ch. 10: Separating Children: Laura Briggs - Future Hindsight - Air Date 2-18-21

Laura Briggs is the author of Taking Children: A History of American Terror. We discuss the history of child separation for political ends, ranging from the enslaved and Native children, to the children of the poor and Central American refugees.

VOICEMAILS

Ch. 11: Biden needs media training but isn't aggressively evil - Dave from Olympia, WA

FINAL COMMENTS

Ch. 12: Final comments on the mental drain of media BS and the need for small victories

TAKE ACTION:

Join Detention Watch Network's #FirstTen to #CommunitiesNotCages Week of Action - March 22nd-26th

Follow @DetentionWatch

Support anti-detention state legislation in Maryland, New Mexico, & Washington 

EDUCATE YOURSELF & SHARE:

‘Like an Experimental Concentration Camp’: Whistleblower Complaint Alleges Mass Hysterectomies at ICE Detention Center (Law & Crime)

“A SILENT PANDEMIC”: Nurse at ICE Facility Blows the Whistle on Coronavirus Dangers (The Intercept)

COVID-19 Outbreak Reported at Otero County Prison Facility (US News & World Report)

New Report Documents Systemic Abuse at a New Mexico Immigrant Detention Center (Innovation Law Lab)

Thousands of immigrants suffer in solitary confinement in U.S. detention centers (NBC News)

Op-Ed: Why abuse and neglect of immigrants proliferate in ICE detention (LA Times)

A Cage is Still a Cage: President Biden Must End U.S. Detention of Children and Families (TIME)

Written by BOTL Communications Director Amanda Hoffman 

MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions):

• Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr 
• Voicemail Music: Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent
• Activism Music: This Fickle World by Theo Bard
• Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent

 

SHOW IMAGE:

Image Description: Close up of a protest sign that reads "Immigration is inevitable. Cruelty is optional.' in hand-written, multi-colored lettering. A smaller sign is held in the background that says "END DETENTION."

Credit: "Protesting ICE and Deportation Raids Chicago Illinois 7-13-19_1836" by Charles Edward Miller, Flickr | License | Changes: Cropped and increased contrast 

 

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

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