The Rational Middle

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Policy Director at the American Immigration Council, speaks with host Omar Gallaga about the growing challenge of migrant child labor violations in the United States.

Randel Johnson, the former Senior Vice President of the Labor, Immigration, and Employee Benefits Division at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, joins us today. Randy has over four decades of experience in shaping immigration policy, advocating for business interests, and collaborating with policymakers and stakeholders to address the complex challenges of the U.S. immigration system. Randy is currently a visiting scholar at Cornell Law School. Randy joins host Carter Carroll to share his insights and perspectives on American immigration, including his experiences at the Chamber of Commerce and his vision for the future of immigration policy in the United States.

Dr. Ahmed K. Ali is an associate professor of Architecture at Texas A&M. He is also the Director of the Resource-Based Design Research Lab at TAMU. This week, he joins host Loren Steffy to discuss his immigration story, his work in academia, and his observations on immigration in America.

This week, we are joined once again by Theresa Cardinal Brown. Theresa Cardinal Brown is the Bipartisan Policy Center's Senior Advisor for Immigration and Border Policy. Brown joins host Gregory Kallenberg to discuss how the BPC finds ways to be bipartisan, updates on her work at the BPC, and more. 

David J. Bier is the associate director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute. He is an expert on legal immigration, border security, and interior enforcement. He recently testified before the House Committee on Homeland Security, on immigration policy issues. He was invited to discuss how the border crisis is affecting Americans. However, the committee did not let him speak to the extent that he had hoped to, often interrupting Bier while questioning him. Host Chris Lyon catches up with David on his testimony and the things he wanted to get across to the committee.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin is an American economist. He was formerly Director of the Congressional Budget Office and chief economic policy adviser to Senator John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. Holtz-Eakin is the president of the American Action Forum, a conservative policy institute. Douglas joins host Omar Gallaga to discuss how we can reframe the thinking around immigrants and their economic impact in America. 

Ahilan Arulanantham is a human rights lawyer and Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law. He's also the faculty co-director of the school's Center for Immigration Law and Policy. Ahilan has dedicated his career to defending the rights of immigrants, and his work has earned him numerous awards and accolades. He was awarded the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship and recently received the ACLU of Southern California's Bill of Rights Award for his tireless advocacy on behalf of marginalized communities.  Ahilan joins host Carter Carroll to talk about the work he is doing, TPS challenges, and more.

DW Gibson is an American journalist, author, radio host, and cultural critic. He is also the author of the 2020 book, 14 Miles: Building the Border Wall, about the border wall that Former President Trump was building, and its impact on the lives of local residents. DW joins host Loren Steffy to discuss updates on the border wall and other movements that are gaining traction in the immigration policy reform space.

Amy Nice is a Distinguished Immigration Fellow and Visiting Scholar at Cornell University.  She's had a long and storied career in immigration, but most recently spent 18 months at the White House at the Office of Science and Technology Policy,  where she worked on immigration issues primarily focused on STEM. She joins host Chris Lyon to discuss the importance of foreign-born STEM workers on the American economy.

We have two guests on the podcast this week! Homero López is the legal director at Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy (ISLA) in Louisiana. ISLA is the primary legal services provider for detention centers across Louisiana. We also have Mary Yanik. Mary is the director of the Tulane Immigrant Rights Clinic. She specializes in assisting immigrant workers including victims of labor trafficking and in defending the constitutional rights of immigrants.    Homero and Mary join new host Omar Gallaga to discuss the Biden administration's supposed consideration of reinstating detaining of migrant families, the current conditions of detention centers, and the treatment of said detainees. 

Zachary (Zak) Manfredi is the Litigation and Advocacy Director of the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP). Zak oversees ASAP's litigation matters and policy advocacy, and he often represents ASAP in strategic partnerships and coalitions. Zak joins host Chris Lyon to discuss ASAP's work and what asylum seekers want to see change about the system.

Dr. Hasia Diner and Dr. Carl Bon Tempo are our guests this week. Dr. Diner is the Paul and Sylvia Steinberg Professor of American Jewish History at NYU, and Dr. Bon Tempo is an associate professor at the University at Albany. Their new book, Immigration: An American History, came out last year via Yale Press. The book covers stories of immigrants throughout American history. The pair join host Carter Carroll to discuss the book. Read an excerpt from the book here.  

Charles Kamasaki is the Senior Cabinet Advisor of UnidosUS, (formerly the National Council of La Raza), the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization, and a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Cornell Law School. He is also the author of Immigration Reform: The Corpse That Will Not Die. Charles joins host Loren Steffy to discuss the book and the findings therein. 

Shahid Haque is an immigration attorney based out of Helena, Montana. He runs a law firm called Border Crossing Law, and he recently launched an app to automate immigration consultations. The app, named Open Borders, seeks to help those seeking citizenship and other avenues of entering the US by giving them the information they need to be able to enter. Haque joins host Carter Carroll to talk about his career, immigration in Montana, and the new app.

Gaurav Khanna is a respected scholar whose research focuses on development economics, labor economics and applied econometrics. He is an assistant professor of economics at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at USC San Diego and a non-resident fellow at the Center for Global Development.    Khanna joins host Loren Steffy to discuss recent tech layoff trends, the issues that H1-B Visa holders are facing, and how these visa holders have impacted American economics over the last 20 years.

Tony Payan is the Director of the Center for the United States and Mexico at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. Payan joins host Chris Lyon to discuss Biden's recent trip to Mexico and El Paso, Texas. What does this trip mean for immigration policy, and are the outcomes going to be effective? 

Charles Foster is an immigration attorney and chairman of Foster LLP in Houston. His work includes being a Senior Immigration Policy Advisor for George W. Bush, an immigration policy advisor on the 2008 Obama campaign, and many others. His work in immigration law has made him one of the foremost experts in the field.    Foster joins host Loren Steffy to discuss the new Congress, what needs to happen to come to rational immigration policy changes, and much more. 

The end of Title 42 is looming. What comes next? And what exactly is Title 8? Jeremy McKinney is the American Immigration Lawyer Association (AILA) President and an immigration and naturalization lawyer in North Carolina. AILA has recommendations for Congress on how to handle the transition to Title 8 and beyond. McKinney joins host Chris Lyon to discuss these issues and more on this week's episode.

Rajika Bhandari is an international higher education expert, writer and speaker. She came to America, from India, to further her education. Her award-winning Memoir, America Calling: A Foreign Student in a Country of Possibility, came out 2021. Bhandari joins host Chris Lyon to discuss the experiences of many international students here in America, and the issues that they face.

Glenn Altschuler is an American writer, as well as a professor and administrator at Cornell University. Altshuler joins host Melissa Brannan to discuss his recent op-ed and common misconceptions about immigration in America.

Hosts Chris Lyon, Loren Steffy and Melissa Brannan join new host Carter Carroll to look back at the first 150 episodes of the podcast. The crew discusses favorite past episodes, recent immigration news, and the future of the podcast. 

Marshall Fitz is the Managing Director of Immigration of the Emerson Collective. The Emerson Collective "develop(s) strategies to remove barriers to opportunity, and work with community partners to advance common sense solutions to systemic problems." Marshall joins host Chris Lyon to discuss the Emerson Collective's work in immigration, as well as the Title 42 challenges that many immigrants are facing in America. 

Douglas Rivlin is the Director of Communication for America's Voice and America's Voice Education Fund. The mission of America's Voice and America's Voice Education Fund is to build the public support and the political will needed to enact policy changes that secure freedom and opportunity for immigrants in America. Rivlin joins host Loren Steffy to discuss the recent mid-term elections and how American voters are pushing for immigration reform. 

Mariko Hirose is the U.S. Litigation Director at International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP.) Mariko joins host Loren Steffy to discuss IRAP's work in aiding refugee's worldwide and here in America. They also discuss IRAP's recent letter of recommendation to the US government on how to help refugee's trying to make it to America.

Tran Dang is the founder and executive director fo the Rhizome Center for Migrants. Their mission is to support and defend forcibly displaced persons and uprooted people at risk around the world. Dang joins host Melissa Brannan to discuss the work of the center, as well as the problems facing bi-national families at the border between the US and Mexico.

On the last of our Midterms Vault Episodes, we revist the first of our Mythbusting series. Consulting psychologist Karl Krumm kicks off the series with a provocative discussion of confirmation bias and other traps to watch out for when trying to talk—productively—about contentious issues.

As we near the midterm elections, we are re-visiting our interview with Theresa Cardinal Brown of the Bipartisan Policy Center to discuss why we fear immigrants, particularly undocumented ones, and what the realistic solutions might be.

As we near the midterm elections, we are re-visiting our interview with Chief Andy Harvey, Chief of Police in Pharr, Texas, as well as its newly-appointed City Manager, joins Melissa Brannan to discuss some of the components of life in a border town: the blockade at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, Operation Lone Star, what it's like being on the Law Enforcement Immigration Task Force, and more.

Angelica Razo is the Texas State Director for Mi Familia Vota, an organization dedicated to building up the political power and representation of Latinos in the United States. Razo joins host Loren Steffy to discuss the recent work of the organization, including a memo calling for Democrats to fight harder for immigrants.

Eunice Cho is a staff attorney for the ACLU National Prison Project, a project that is working for prison reform and the rights of prisoners around the country. Cho joins host Melissa Brannan to discuss her work with the National Prison Project, as well as how ICE Detention Centers are growing in America.

Stephen Yale-Loehr, Professor of Immigration Law at Cornell Law School, joins host Chris Lyon this week. They discuss Yale'Loehr's work in immigration law and research on refugees in America. 

The Rational Middle host team gets together to round out the summer, discuss the upcoming midterm elections, how both sides are (or are not) using immigration to push political agendas, and future podcast episodes.

Leah Boustan and Ran Abramitzky join host Loren Steffy to discuss their new book, "Streets of Gold: America's Untold Story of Immigrant Success." The writers discuss the success and economic impacts of immigrants in the United States. 

Ian Kysel is the Assistant Clinical Professor of Law at Cornell Law School where he has helped shape the Iternational Migrants' Bill of Rights (IMBR)Initiative. Host Melissa Brannan and Mr. Kysel explore the purpose and need for the IMBR in today's world of migration.

Betsy Cohen, Executive Director of the St. Louis Mosaic Project and author of "Welcome To the U.S.A. - You're Hired!" speaks with host Chris Lyon about the Gateway City's goal of becoming the fastest growing city in America for foreign born people.

Shoba Wadhia, Director of the Center for Immigrants' Rights Clinic, Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Law Professor sits down with host Loren Steffy for a conversation about a Texas Federal Court's pushback against restrictions on deportation implemented by the Biden Administration.

Joara Jimenez, coordinator of the Dream Center at California State University Chico, talks with host Melissa Brannan about the struggle that Dreamer students experience and what Cal State Chico is doing to provide them with resources.

Denise Gilman, Director of the Immigration Clinic at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law shares an update on the U.S.-Mexico Border, Operation Lone Star, and the politicization of the border.

German photographer Stefan Falke was born in Germany, but has been living in New York for 20 years. His long-running project, "La Frontera", documents artists working along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Linda Lorelle, 17-year news veteran of Houston's NBC affiliate KPRC, has started her own company, Lorelle Media, and begun an effort to share the opportunities that immigrants offer our country.

Executive Producer Loren Steffy speaks with former Dallas journalist and two-time Peabody Award winner Byron Harris about his new podcast "When I Got Here".

Talia Inlender, Deputy Director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA, joins us to discuss their recent report on the Biden administration's dedicated asylum docket, and why it's rife with "miscarriages of justice."

With the traumatic deaths of 53 migrants in San Antonio weighing on our hearts and minds, we sat down to chat with Luz Garcini, Nonresident Scholar at Baker University's the Center for the United States and Mexico specializing in the study of trauma, loss and grief among Latinx immigrants, to help us understand the tragedy in the context of the continuous chain of traumas that shadow all stages of the migration process.

Frances Kelley, Shreveport Coordinator for the Louisiana Advocates for Immigrants in Detention (LA-AID), tells us more about LA-AID, the services it provides, and the importance of taking a long view of immigration in the U.S. Part two of a two-episode special.

Frances Kelley, Shreveport Coordinator for the Louisiana Advocates for Immigrants in Detention (LA-AID), dissects the stunning problem of immigrant detention in the U.S., the lesser-known problem of the chaotic detainee release process, and where an all-volunteer community organization fits in. Part one of a two-episode conversation.

As DACA reaches its first decade, we hear from Andrea Tecpoyotl, a young DACA activist, about what it's like to live with the program: its promise as well as its frustrations.

Austin Kocher, Research Assistant Professor with the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University, takes us inside the Clearinghouse's use of the Freedom of Information Act to access federal datasets, and what such data can tell us about the state of immigration.

Valerie Lacarte, Senior Policy Analyst with the Migration Policy Institute's Human Services Initiative, takes us inside her research on trends in Black immigration to the U.S.—and the lessons it holds for all of us.

The team gets together to celebrate the new Rational Middle of Immigration video episodes, puzzle over Title 42, and consider the marvel that is DACA. Plus the perennial question of what it takes to be optimistic about immigration reform.

Perla Trevizo, an award-wining journalist with the ProPublica/Texas Tribune Investigative Unit, takes us inside her reporting on the long history of Texas's border spending; outputs vs. outcomes when it comes to judging efficacy; and the architecture of Texas's relation to its Southern border.

Sandra Sanchez, an award-winning journalist covering the Southern border at Border Report, speaks with Loren Steffy about her two-part deep dive into the ramifying effects of the Migrant Protection Protocols—also known as Remain in Mexico—on the lives of countless asylum-seekers.