Only in America with Ali Noorani

It's our final episode! This week, we look back at our favorite memories, clips, and episodes from the podcast. Featured guests include  Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon, Pati Jinich, Nafy Flatley and many others. We hope you enjoy this look back at a great pod. Thank you to all our guests and everyone who helped make this happen!   Please visit our Facebook and Twitter for more stories and information about the National Immigration Forum.  

It's another virtual road trip – this week to Ithaca. And don't forget your mittens because it's cold out there! This week we are joined by Casey Verderosa from Ithaca Welcomes Refugees. She details their origin story, the organization's current challenges, and what she hopes for Ithaca and IWR in the future.   Check out their page to learn more about how to help IWR and some great merch!  

President Biden inherited an emaciated resettlement and asylum program from former President Trump, whose administration enacted blatantly anti-immigrant, anti-refugee and anti-asylum policies throughout its four years. This week we look at the path forward for those affected by America's archaic immigration system - and what you can do to help make changes for immigrants and their families in our communities.    We hear from Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Taif Jany Director of Policy and Practice at RCUSA, and Lacy Broemel, a Policy Analyst at the International Refugee Assistance Project.   If you liked what you heard here, please be sure to check out the full conversation on our Facebook page.

It's President Biden's one-year anniversary in the White House. This week we look at the progress for immigration advocacy and how that bodes for those still hoping for reforms now.   We speak with Kristie De Pena, Vice President for policy and director of immigration at the Niskanen Center, and Danilo Zak, Policy and Advocacy Manager at the Forum.    Also be sure to check out the Forum's recent white paper, One Year In: The Biden Administration's Treatment of Vulnerable Migrants for a rundown of the progress we've seen – and the work that still has to be done.  

The supply chain has now become a big part of our national discussion. And a large, cheese-sized hunk of those goods are related to dairy farming. But without immigrant employees, like many agribusinesses, dairy farms across the country wouldn't be able to function. This week, we take a look at America's dairy farms and how they're embracing their immigrant workforce. We speak with Ohio Dairy Farmer, Kathy Davis, and Mercedes Falk, the president of Puentes, a non-profit helping farmers and immigrant workers bridge cultural and language gaps.

The Olympics are a unique opportunity to celebrate both individual victories and our collective unity.  And this week we went for the gold! Ali speaks with former Olympian and refugee Makorobondo “Dee” Salukombo about learning to love running and his work starting Project Kirotshe a program that pays children in Congo's school fees as they train and run races throughout Eastern Africa.   Check us out on Twitter and Facebook for more great stories from our podcast.  

We are back! Thank you for joining us after our brief break.   Not all heroes wear capes, but this one does wear a Captain America costume. Vishavjit Singh is a writer, artist, creator of Sikhtoons, and Sikh Captain America. He uses his powers of building bridges and storytelling to fight intolerance and have difficult conversations to create understanding. He tells us his origin story and about his new animated film, “American Sikh”, an animated short about seeking acceptance in an intolerant world.  You can donate to his Kickstarter here.  

  President Biden's decision this week to raise the refugee ceiling to 62,500 came after a broad range of voices urged the administration to reconsider their initial decision to keep the ceiling at the historically low 15,000 set by President Trump.    Ali speaks with Edafe Okporo, a global gay rights activist and executive director of the RDJ Refugee Shelter in Harlem, New York, about his experience with the US  asylum system and how he is trying to help other asylees. We also hear from Jenny Yang, Senior Vice President of Advocacy and Policy at World Relief, about the growing need for refugee resettlement. 

For Luma Mufleh, soccer has always been a passion. This week we hear how she combined that love for the pitch with providing education to young refugees in Ohio and Georgia. We also hear from educators and students at Fugees Academy about why this school is so important for both its students and the refugee community at large. You can learn more about Fugee Academy at their website.

A record number of people have been attempting to cross the US-Mexico border this year, many of them children. There are reports of a backlog of thousands of people willing to take a chance. And those turned back usually wait a bit in Mexico and try again. So how does the number of people attempting to cross the border this year compare to previous years? What are these individuals and families facing? And what approaches can we take immediately to start addressing these issues? This week, an on-the-ground look at the U.S.-Mexico border as we speak with Joanna Williams, Executive Director of the Kino Border Initiative, Linda Chavez, a former Reagan White House official and Danilo Zak, Policy & Advocacy Associate at the Forum. Here's Linda's recent piece for The Bulwark, and our explainer on the border situation.

The new film “The Infiltrators” tells the true story of young immigrants who are detained by the Border Patrol and thrown into a shadowy for-profit detention center. This week we chatted with the filmmakers, Alex Rivera and Cristina Ibarra. Both received MacArthur fellowships and join us to talk about their story, the making of the film, and their future projects. 

It's Part 2 of our visit to the Fugees Academy in Ohio. This week, we hear from students and faculty about what it was like at the school after the 2016 election, their advice for those new to the U.S., and what they look forward to for the future (spoiler: 9th grade is hopefully better than 8th).   Please visit their website to learn more about the Fugees Academy  

For Luma Mufleh, soccer has always been a passion. This week we hear how she combined that love for the pitch with providing education to young refugees in Ohio and Georgia. We also hear from educators and students at Fugees Academy about why this school is so important for both its students and the refugee community at large.   You can learn more about Fugee Academy at their website.

It's a bigoted ideology that has led to hate and violence – and to U.S. laws and fringe political movements. But why does it continue to shape immigration policies and pop up in cable news and social media? This week we speak to Alan Cross, a Southern Baptist pastor, and author who has written extensively on the role of the church in race relations.   Be sure to check out our in-depth explainer and resource page about the ‘Great Replacement' theory's origins, its misconceptions, and the ways we can push back against it.

This week, we bring you the story of a diverse coalition made up of former presidents, business coalition leaders, and many more working together to help Afghan evacuees. In the last episode of our “Welcoming Afghans” series, we talk to Nazanin Ash, CEO of Welcome.us and Nadia Hashimi a member of the National Welcome Council at Welcome.us.   You can find out how Welcome.us is helping individuals and families at their website.

Picture this: two veterans helping Afghan evacuees find safety and build new lives in Ohio using mostly social media and fundraising sites. In one of the most moving and engaging episodes we've had yet, Matt Carpenter and Rick Stockburger detail their mission to help 150 people evacuate Afghanistan this fall. They also detail what some of these evacuees are facing coming to the US as well as stories of working and fighting alongside Afghan nationals in the hopes of building a more democratic Afghanistan.  You can watch the full conversation on our YouTube page.  To donate to their efforts to evacuate our Afghan allies, visit https://gofund.me/b2d2405b 

Veterans Day is a day to celebrate the military men and women who have served and are serving in the Armed Forces – and their commitment to the effort to welcome Afghans to America is no exception. In this week's episode, we look at how the military community has stepped up to the challenge of welcoming new arrivals – and how these connections, along with new legislation, can set Afghans up for success.    We speak this week with Margaret Stock, an immigration attorney and retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U-S Army Reserve. Also included in this week's episode are Nazanin Ash, the CEO of Welcome.us, and Nadia Hashimi, a pediatrician, novelist, and member of the Welcome.us coalition.    You can find out how Welcome.us is helping individuals and families at their website.

Through digital and in-person efforts, countless people around the U.S. continue to help Afghan evacuees resettle in their new community. This week we bring you stories from two local organizations helping in a big way.   In this third part of the series, we speak with Debra Lang, Executive Director of KindWorks, and Russell Smith, CEO of Refugee Services of Texas.     Find out more about how these two organizations are helping resettle Afghan individuals and families on their sites.  

This week, the story of one organization in Ohio that is showing up in a big way for Afghan evacuees: The International Institute of Akron has been welcoming immigrants and refugees to Akron for over 100 years, but recent changes in the refugee ceiling – and then the military withdrawal from Afghanistan this year – has changed their work in big ways.    In the second part of our multi-part series about helping Afghan evacuees, we speak with Madhu Sharma, the Executive Director of The International Institute of Akron.  Find out more about how The International Institute of Akron is helping Afghan individuals and families at their website. 

Thousands of Afghan evacuees are still unmoored months after the U.S withdrawal from Afghanistan. Many remain on military bases in the U.S. and across the world. Their stories don't end with evacuation - in fact, it's just the beginning of a resettlement process that requires a formidable amount of planning, resources, and cooperation across communities. This multi-part series looks at the stories of those helping these evacuees.    In our first episode, we speak to Bri Stensrud, Director of Women of Welcome about the incredible response and outpouring of support from their community to help Afghan refugees. Specific information about outreach and ways to help Afghan refugees can be found here.  

We are back! Thank you for joining us after our brief break.   Not all heroes wear capes, but this one does wear a Captain America costume. Vishavjit Singh is a writer, artist, creator of Sikhtoons, and Sikh Captain America. He uses his powers of building bridges and storytelling to fight intolerance and have difficult conversations to create understanding. He tells us his origin story and about his new animated film, “American Sikh”, an animated short about seeking acceptance in an intolerant world.  You can donate to his Kickstarter here.

This week we look at the symbolism and substance of borders. We've covered the US/Mexico border previously, but this time we take a large look at borderlands and what those lines mean for the people living on either side.   Ali speaks with VICE news correspondent David Noriega and Danilo Zak Policy & Advocacy Associate at the Forum.    Check us out on Twitter and Facebook for more great stories from our podcast. 

Immigration reform for Dreamers could be on the horizon, but what does achieving it through budget reconciliation mean for future immigration reform efforts? This week we speak to Bill Kristol director of Defending Democracy Together. Our conversation looks at what the potentially $3.5 trillion budget package would really mean for DACA and other immigration laws as well as the future of bipartisan legislation.   Watch the full version of the live conversation on our Facebook page.  And find out more about reconciliation with a newly released explainer on our website.  

The Olympics are a unique opportunity to celebrate both individual victories and our collective unity.  And this week we went for the gold! Ali speaks with former Olympian and refugee Makorobondo “Dee” Salukombo about learning to love running and his work starting Project Kirotshe a program that pays children in Congo's school fees as they train and run races throughout Eastern Africa.   Check us out on Twitter and Facebook for more great stories from our podcast.  

As the Olympics approach and we collectively turn our TVs to feats of athleticism, we highlight another way sports brings people together. This week's episode features the co-founders of the Curbside Cup – a soccer tournament for refugee children in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Terri Sheldon and Jean Bosco Tuyisenge tell the story of how the tournament came together and how soccer led to new possibilities.   Check us out on Twitter and Facebook for more great stories from our podcast.  

Driving through neighborhoods across the country, you could see the effects. Shuttered storefronts. Quiet business districts. Not to mention the stories of families who have scraped by day after day, over the last year. In this episode, we check bring stories of immigrant business owners and workers who have been essential to the response and recovery to COVID-19.   Ali speaks with Ramiro Cavazos, Issaka Kouraogo and Lawrence Yoo for our episode this week.   Check us out on Twitter and Facebook for more great stories to help celebrate Immigrant Heritage Month! 

Our celebration of Immigration Heritage Month continues! And as much as Immigrant Heritage Month is a joyful occasion, it's also an opportunity to remember how much more work there is to be done.   For part 2, we revisit some of last week's guests -- and talk to some new ones -- to hear more about their heritage and how it informs their sense of being American. We are joined by guests Jessica Astudillo, Eric Kwak, Farah Larrieux, and Edilsa Lopez.  Check us out on Twitter and Facebook for more great stories to help celebrate Immigrant Heritage Month! 

It's Immigrant Heritage Month! And for the next two weeks, we'll be sharing stories that shine a light on the contributions of immigrants – those who came here to work hard, seek opportunities or find protection – and what their experiences and recent research can tell us about the American Identity and American attitudes towards immigration.   We hear this week from, Jessica Astudillo, Emily Ekins, Farah Larrieux, and Edilsa Lopez.   Be sure to check out our Twitter and Facebook for more great stories to help celebrate Immigrant Heritage Month!

For local law enforcement, building trust within their communities is key to doing their jobs. But for many immigrant communities, contact with law enforcement is associated with discrimination, surveillance and a risk of deportation. This week we ask: How can local police build a better relationship with their communities?    In the final stop on our virtual road trip through Utah, we talk to Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown. Chief Brown discusses how his department is building a pathway for a diverse range of young people, including DACA recipients, to get involved in a career in law enforcement.  

In Utah, where the immigrant population has grown significantly in recent decades, federal policies are only the beginning of a conversation that can play out much more meaningfully at the local level. Utah’s changing demographics have presented new challenges – and new opportunities.   This week, Ali speaks with Salt Lake County Mayor and life-long Utahan Jenny Wilson. Mayor Wilson discusses how important it is to foster inclusivity and welcome – and critically, how to put those values into action.

We’re back on our virtual road trip through Utah, taking a look back at what we’ve learned about the state so far -- and also looking ahead. Our first two Utah conversations helped us understand the experiences of immigrants and the history of the Latino community in the state, and our upcoming guests will help us understand how community leaders in Utah are working to advance the conversation around immigration in the state. Dr. Armando Solorzano is an author and associate professor at the University of Utah, where he’s been teaching for 30 years. Bernardo Castro is a Utah Dreamer, BYU graduate and small business owner.    Do you have any questions or thoughts for our upcoming guests? Let us know and your question may be featured in an upcoming episode of Only in America. Let us know: digital@immigrationforum.org Also mentioned in this episode: Our previous interviews with Esmeralda Tovar.  

What happens when a group of evangelical women come together to advocate for refugees? This week we hear from Tess Clarke, Director of We Welcome Refugees, about their effort to gather voices from across the country to urge President Biden to raise the refugee ceiling. Some people sent their voicemails in before this month’s announcement, and some were recorded after. These emotional messages detail why refugees are so important to this country - and why it’s important for people of faith to step up.  

We’re taking a break from Utah this week to address President Biden’s refugee ceiling announcement. Our virtual road -trip will be back soon!   President Biden’s decision this week to raise the refugee ceiling to 62,500 came after a broad range of voices urged the administration to reconsider their initial decision to keep the ceiling at the historically low 15,000 set by President Trump.    Ali speaks with Edafe Okporo, a global gay rights activist and executive director of the RDJ Refugee Shelter in Harlem, New York, about his experience with the US asylum system and how he is trying to help other asylees. We also hear from Jenny Yang, Senior Vice President of Advocacy and Policy at World Relief, about the growing need for refugee resettlement. 

Our virtual road trip around Utah continues as we learn about the unique history and future of Latino communities in the Beehive state, which has seen its Hispanic population grow nearly 26 % between 2010 and 2018 -- which was more than twice as fast as the non-Hispanic white population.   Ali talks to Dr. Armando Solórzano about the rapidly changing demographics of Utah, the history of immigration, and how under the Biden administration, the historical importance of parks and monuments may take on added significance.   

The Beehive State is not often at the forefront of the immigration debate, but as we discuss this week, Utah’s approach to immigration reform has a lot we can learn from.   As many of their geographical neighbors passed notoriously anti-immigrant and racist legislation, Utah’s communities were sending a different kind of message. One of welcome and opportunity, rather than fear and hostility.  This week we are joined by Bernardo Castro, a Utah Dreamer, BYU graduate and small business owner. Bernardo discusses the ever-changing status of DACA, growing up undocumented in a state with a relatively small Latino population and the principles of dignity and humane policies for all.   

A record number of people have been attempting to cross the US-Mexico border this year, many of them children. There are reports of a backlog of thousands of people willing to take a chance. And those turned back usually wait a bit in Mexico and try again. So how does the number of people attempting to cross the border this year compare to previous years? What are these individuals and families facing? And what approaches can we take immediately to start addressing these issues? This week, an on-the-ground look at the U.S.-Mexico border as we speak with Joanna Williams, Executive Director of the Kino Border Initiative, Linda Chavez, a former Reagan White House official and Danilo Zak, Policy & Advocacy Associate at the Forum.

In our upcoming series, we take a virtual road trip around Utah to talk to residents about how immigration impacts Utah and what it's like to be an immigrant in the Beehive State. We’ll be exploring how immigrants contribute to their communities in Utah, how national immigration conversations impact – or don’t impact – reforms in Utah, and where Utahns think we go from here.

Last week’s shooting in Atlanta is part of a tragic rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders across the country. This rise is coupled with the fact that discrimination and hate faced by Asian Americans is often overlooked by press, policymakers and systems. Data collection efforts lag; outreach is stunted.   This week, Ali speaks with John C. Yang, President and Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice. John shares what he’s hearing from organizers and partners on the ground, and how we can use this as a moment of change. 

Ensuring safe, equitable vaccination campaigns is a challenge for communities across the country. But the rollout for an immigrant in New York City can look quite different than it does for one in small-town Iowa. This week, Ali talks to Maria Ramos, a city council member in Storm Lake, Iowa. Maria discusses how her small-but-diverse town has responded to the pandemic, and how she sees her role as a leader in the immigrant community and the town as a whole.

What can the undocumented experience teach us about how to support vulnerable communities through the grief and trauma of the past year? Ali talks to Dr. Luz Garcini, a nonresident fellow at the Center for the United States and Mexico, part of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, about how we build a pipeline that meets immigrant health needs, and how the new administration can help break the cycle of mistrust and fear that leaves immigrants more vulnerable.

Prioritizing vaccine access for vulnerable communities is critical to a successful pandemic response – but it’s only one piece of the puzzle. This week’s guest is Valentina Pereda, a communications expert and documentary filmmaker based in LA. She tells Ali about her work tracking and combatting misinformation in the Latino community, particularly around COVID-19. Valentina helped produce the following vaccine PSAs: Imam Muhammad Kolila: https://www.facebook.com/MasjidAlshuhadaa/videos/1119238831834139/ Dr. Lily Cervantes: https://www.facebook.com/1548681666/videos/10224241052444509/ Dr. AK Agundiabe: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CKl_0WvHFKw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link  

Recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and achieving herd immunity won't be possible, Laura Spinney argues, unless we prioritize immigrant communities.  This week Ali talks to Laura, a science journalist and author of Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World, about why protecting ourselves is impossible without protecting the most vulnerable. 

Immigrants have played a key role in our nation’s response to COVID-19 – and they’re especially vulnerable to the pandemic’s devastating effects. So for our next series, we’re talking to public health experts, science journalists and more to understand how communities are responding to the pandemic and the systemic challenges that it has shed a light on.

Building a truly successful legal immigration system will take more than undoing Trump policies – it’s going to take an overhaul of a long-outdated system that cannot meet our modern immigration needs. So, where do we go from here? Ali talks to Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us, about how Congress and the administration can tackle the remnants of Trump-era policies – and why a broader vision for a legal immigration system is vital for our nation’s future.  

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? And who has a seat at the negotiation table? Ali talks to Joy Olson, a foreign policy expert and the former executive director of the Washington Office on Latin America, about untangling Trump’s asylum mess, what was missing from previous regional approaches, and what she hopes the Biden administration will focus on. 

Joe Biden is expected to rescind Trump’s travel ban almost immediately after taking office this week – but where does our national security conversation go from there, and how do we balance it with smart immigration policies? Ali talks to Elizabeth Neumann, a security expert who served at DHS during the Trump administration, about why rescinding the ban will make us safer, and what smarter policies could look like.  

This week, Ali talks to Mark Hetfield, President and CEO of HIAS, about what a Biden administration means for refugee resettlement. HIAS is one of nine primarily faith-based organizations partnering with the federal government to help resettle refugees, and is also engaged in refugee advocacy at the national and international level. Mark and Ali spoke about the obstacles refugees face on the road to resettlement, the policy decisions facing the Biden administration, and what a modernized refugee program could look like.

We’re hitting the ground running in 2021 and for season 4 of Only in America, with a series focused on what President-elect Biden’s first 100 days mean for the 117th Congress and what our immigration system could look like. We’ll start by seeing what the Biden administration can do during its early days — and then shift to what the implications are in Congress for longer-term, bipartisan solutions for reform on key issues like DACA, border security and more. 

In our final episode of the season, we get a glimpse of the challenges migrant youth face in other parts of the world. Ali talks with Irena Abdelalem Abdelmaksoud, a protection officer who specializes in working with unaccompanied children at Info Park, a grassroots NGO in Belgrade, Serbia, that has been assisting refugees in the area since 2015. They provide urgent aid, psychological support, accommodation, information and other services for refugees across Belgrade, a major transit hub for refugees making the arduous journey to the European Union.

This week we dive into the importance of mental health care in the U.S. — in particular for immigrant youth. Ali talks with Luna Greenstein, a senior content manager at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, about personal stories of immigrants’ mental health experiences, and how by understanding these stories, we can get a sense of the mental health challenges that young immigrants may face more often than their peers.

Ali talks to two people who have years of experience creating a safer environment for young immigrants to address their trauma and heal. Their work focuses on disrupting cycles of poverty and helping them build skills and access resources to build a better life. Molly Baldwin is the founder and CEO of Roca in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Victoria Ramirez-Morales leads Roca’s Central American Youth Initiative.