First They Came for the Immigrants

It's 2021 and the Biden-Harris Administration has hit the ground running.  What does that mean for immigrants and asylum seekers?  Are all our problems solved?  Virginia Raymond shares her thoughts on the complex history of U.S. immigration and the challenges that will be faced in coming months.  If you care about immigration, if you care about democracy, stay tuned!  Reminder:  Please review and share the podcast wherever you listen and let us know what you think! 

Virginia Raymond speaks with Eduardo Canales of the South Texas Human Rights Center about their mission, to end death and suffering on the Texas/Mexico border. “And to this day it continues, and to this day, there's lack of documentation in terms of human rights abuses at borders… the border doesn't mean you don't have any constitutional rights. It doesn't mean you don't have any international human rights under international covenants. But that's the nature over the last 20-25 years in terms of an enforcement-only approach to immigration.” Show notes: To learn more about the work of the South Texas Human Rights Center, please visit: https://southtexashumanrights.org/

Virginia Raymond in conversation with Patricia Ice, Legal Project Director and Attorney at MIRA, the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance. “The public needs to know that Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security, they call these places detention facilities, and they are detaining people, but they're treating them like they are criminals….most people have not been charged with any crime...” Show notes: To learn more about the work of the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance, visit: https://yourmira.org/

Virgina Raymond talks with community organizer Deborah Alemu, about the intersection of race, immigration, social justice and the work of the Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP).   Show notes: To learn more about the work of Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP), visit: BLMP.org.   

Welcome to the fourth episode of a new podcast, First They Came for the Immigrants. In this episode, Virgina Raymond talks with Nell Hahn, a retired civil lights lawyer currently based in Louisiana. They discuss immigrants' rights, why so-called detention centers are actually prisons, and the economic system built around immigrant incarceration.

Virginia Raymond and Yael Schacher of Refugees International discussing the findings documented in the recent report, Deportation with a Layover: Failure of Protection Under the U.S.-Guatemala Asylum Cooperative Agreement.

Virginia Raymond in dialogue with Montserrat Garibay, Secretary-Treasurer of the Texas AFL-CIO on labor organizing, immigration and democracy as well Montserrat's own experiences as an immigrant to the U.S.

First They Came for the Immigrants is a new podcast!  Immigrants and asylum seekers are under attack in the U.S. and so is our democracy. Join Virginia Raymond and experts for straight talk about immigration policy and history, their effects on the lives of real people, and what we can do about it. Show Notes: Books referenced by Virginia: Cristina Salinas – Managed Migrations: Growers, Farmworkers, and Border Enforcement in the Twentieth Century https://utpress.utexas.edu/books/salinas-managed-migrations Erwin Chemerinsky – Closing the Courthouse Door: How Your Constitutional Rights Became Unenforceable https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300211580/closing-courthouse-door   Organizations referenced by Virginia: El Paso Anti-Deportation Squad Rio Grande International Study Center: https://rgisc.org Grassroots Leadership: https://grassrootsleadership.org/ Texas RioGrande Legal Aide: https://www.trla.org Justice for our Neighbors: https://njfon.org American Gateways: https://www.americangateways.org/ Raices: https://www.raicestexas.org/ Workers Defense Project: https://www.workersdefense.org/ San Antonio Interfaith Coalition: https://interfaithwelcomecoalition.org Angry Tias and Abuelas of the Rio Grande Valley: https://www.angrytiasandabuelas.com/mission-index-impact