Congress hasn’t passed a significant immigration bill in decades, but the demands on the immigration system today are very different than they were in the ’90s. So, what’s a president to do? With asylum seekers facing a militarized border and millions of undocumented immigrants already inside the country, recent presidents have used their executive authority to try and shape the system to meet the needs of the day. But, more and more, the courts are stepping in. Today, lawsuits drag on, Congress remains deadlocked, and millions of people are caught in the middle.

GUESTS: Dr. Jorge Castañeda, former Foreign Minister of Mexico and Global Distinguished Professor of Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University; Cristina Rodríguez, Leighton Homer Surbeck Professor of Law at Yale Law School; Theresa Cardinal Brown, Managing Director, Immigration and Cross-Border Policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center; Juan Pablo Barrios, asylum seeker from Venezuela (interpretation by Gustavo Martínez).

RESOURCES FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS:

American Immigration Council: Asylum Resources

Asylee Eligibility for Resettlement Assistance Guide, CLINIC

Getting Asylum, Protection in The United States, Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Stanford Law School, 2017

Para Obtener Asilo, Protección en los Estados Unidos, Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Stanford Law School, 2017

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

The President and Immigration Law, Adam B. Cox and Cristina M. Rodríguez

Ex Mex: From Migrants to Immigrants, Jorge G. Castañeda

This Week in Immigration, The Bipartisan Policy Center, Theresa Cardinal Brown

Lake Maracaibo: an oil development sacrifice zone dying from neglect, Mongabay

Special thanks to Professor Jennifer M. Chacón.