Immigrant Song

In this episode we’ll examine how some anti-immigrant voices have popularized the term “chain migration” to stigmatize immigrant families and we’ll discuss how, in fact, chain migration is just … immigration.

If you like what you hear, consider supporting the podcast on Patreon. Your support will help make this a better project.

For more information visit patreon.com/immigrantsong.

You can also follow this project on Twitter or on Facebook. Just search for “immigrant song.”

Our opening music is “Wildness” by Serj Anto. With interstitial and closing music by Podington Bear.

Show Notes:

Chain Migration Is Just Immigration

https://medium.com/immigration-in-america/chain-migration-is-just-immigration-e5fbc52dd4c9

I also recommend reading Linda Qui’s New York Time article on this subject. She does similar research via Google Books and Google Trends on the origins of the phrase. We arrive at some slightly different but complementary conclusions.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/26/us/politics/the-facts-behind-the-weaponized-phrase-chain-migration.html

In this episode we discuss some common but significant questions I often receive on the subject of illegal immigration and undocumented immigrants.

If you like what you hear, consider supporting the podcast on Patreon. Your support will help make this a better project.

For more information visit patreon.com/immigrantsong.

You can also follow this project on Twitter or on Facebook. Just search for “immigrant song.”

Our opening music is “Wildness” by Serj Anto. With interstitial and closing music by Podington Bear.

Narrated and produced by Robert Stribley

Show Notes:

Five Common Questions About Undocumented Immigrants

https://medium.com/immigration-in-america/q-a-common-questions-about-undocumented-immigrants-769e15393d96

In this episode we discuss myths and misinformation about immigrants supposedly stealing Americans’ benefits. In short, they’re not. In fact, they often pay taxes and help pay for our benefits, which they typically can’t receive.

If you like what you hear, consider supporting the podcast on Patreon. Your support will help make this a better project.

For more information visit patreon.com/immigrantsong.

You can also follow this project on Twitter or on Facebook. Just search for “immigrant song.”

Our opening music is “Wildness” by Serj Anto. With interstitial and closing music by Podington Bear.

Narrated and produced by Robert Stribley

Show Notes:

Immigrants Aren’t Stealing Your Benefits

https://medium.com/immigration-in-america/immigrants-arent-stealing-your-benefits-953792d24fb4

In this episode we’ll ask What Happens to a Dreamer Deferred? This episode will be a little more personal, as I compare my own experience as an immigrant to this country to those who are undocumented immigrants.

If you like what you hear, consider supporting the podcast on Patreon. Your support will help make this a better project.

For more information visit patreon.com/immigrantsong.

You can also follow this project on Twitter or on Facebook. Just search for “immigrant song.”

Our opening music is “Mexico City Blues II” by Los Negretes. Our closing music is A Meditation on Flight by Alpen. With interstitial music by Podington Bear. All songs are featured via a Creative Commons license.

Thanks to Bob Maynard for the idea to profile an immigrant in each episode of the podcast.

Narrated and produced by Robert Stribley

Show Notes:

Original essay: What Happens to a Dreamer Deferred?

https://medium.com/@stribs/what-happens-to-a-dreamer-deferred-2b2fde88262f

In this episode we examine the question, "What is the immigration industrial complex?" We’ll learn how maintaining a flow of undocumented immigrants in and out of the United States means big money for many companies. We’ll also hear from Tanya Golash-Boza, author of the book, Deported: Policing Immigrants, Disposable Labor and Global Capitalism.

If you like what you hear, consider supporting the podcast on Patreon. Your support will help make this a better project.

For more information visit patreon.com/immigrantsong.

You can also follow this project on Twitter or on Facebook. Just search for “immigrant song.”

Our opening music is “Mexico City Blues II” by Los Negretes. Our closing music is A Meditation on Flight by Alpen. With interstitial music by Podington Bear. All songs are featured via a Creative Commons license.

Thanks to Bob Maynard for the idea to profile an immigrant in each episode. The music from that segment for this episode was “Alexander's Ragtime Band” performed by Arthur Collins and Byron G. Harlan in 1911.

Narrated and produced by Robert Stribley

Show Notes:

Original essay: What Is the “Immigration Industrial Complex”?

https://medium.com/immigration-in-america/what-is-the-immigration-industrial-complex-bdf5fd109771

Recommended Reading

* Deported: Immigrant Policing, Disposable Labor and Global Capitalism by Tanya Golash-Boza, NYU Press, 2015

* Emphasizing the ‘Complex’ in the ‘Immigration Industrial Complex’ by Nicole Trujillo-Pagán, April 2, 2013

* From Deportation to Prison by Patrisia Macías-Rojas, NYU Press, 2016

*How Private Prisons Are Profiting From Locking Up US Immigrants by Keegan Hamilton, VICE News, October 6, 2015

* How Private Prisons Game the Immigration System by Lee Fang, The Nation, February 27, 2013

* The Immigration Industrial Complex: Why We Enforce Immigration Policies Destined to Fail by Tanya Golash-Boza, Sociology Compass, 2009

* Killing the American Dream: How Anti-Immigration Extremists are Destroying the Nation by Pilar Marrero, St. Martin’s Press, 2012

* New face of the war on immigrants?: US immigration reform by William I. Robinson, Al Jazeera, July 10, 2013

* U.S. Grows An Industrial Complex Along The Border by Ted Robbins, NPR, September 12, 2012

In this episode we discuss the language of “illegal immigration” in the United States and, specifically, why the way we speak about undocumented or unauthorized immigrants matters.

Our opening music is “Mexico City Blues II” by Los Negretes. Our closing music is A Meditation on Flight by Alpen. With interstitial music by Podington Bear. All songs are featured via a Creative Commons license.

Thanks to Bob Maynard for the idea to profile an immigrant.

Narrated and produced by Robert Stribley

Show Notes:

The Language of Illegal Immigration

https://medium.com/immigration-in-america/the-language-of-illegal-immigration-1178594f0930

Further Reading:

* Aliens - Geoffrey Nunberg, "Fresh Air" commentary, 11 April 2006

* Immigration Debate: The Problem with the Word Illegal - Jose Antonio Vargas, Time, 21 September 2012

* Should I Use the Term "Illegal Immigrant"? - Jeffrey Toobin, New Yorker, 5 August 2005

* What Part of ‘Illegal’ Don’t You Understand? - Lawrence Downes, The New York Times, 28 October 2007

In this episode, we take a fact-based look at how rhetoric and data are misused in attempts to convince the public that these immigrants are violent criminals. In fact, immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, are less likely to commit violent crimes or to be found in jail. You’ll hear excerpts from my interview with Walter Ewing of the American Immigration Council on the topic, too.

If you like what you hear, consider supporting the podcast on Patreon. Your support will help make this a better project.

For more information visit patreon.com/immigrantsong.

You can also follow this project on Twitter or on Facebook. Just search for “immigrant song.”

Our opening music is “Mexico City Blues II” by Los Negretes. Our closing music is A Meditation on Flight by Alpen. With interstitial music by Podington Bear. All songs are featured via a Creative Commons license.

Thanks to Bob Maynard for the idea to profile an immigrant.

Narrated and produced by Robert Stribley

Show notes:

Undocumented Immigrant Does Not Equal Violent Criminal

https://bit.ly/2FXBiwU

Further Reading

* The Criminalization of Immigration in the United States, American Immigration Council, 13 July, 2015

* Donald Trump’s False Comments Connecting Mexican Immigrants and Crime, The Washington Post, 8 July 2015

* The Rise of Federal Immigration Crimes, Pew Hispanic, 18 March, 2014

Welcome to a new podcast on the subject of immigration in the United States. It’s called Immigrant Song and it’s hosted by Robert Stribley. In each episode we’ll discuss a specific and timely topic on the subject of immigration. You’ll hear facts and figures but also interviews with people who are experts or who’ve been affected by our immigration laws.

The topic of our first episode: There is no illegal immigration crisis. A fact-based review of the myths about undocumented immigration in the United States.

You’ll find a link to the original essay this episode was based on in the episode description, as well as links to other well-researched articles.

If you like what you heard in this episode feel free to support the podcast on Patreon. Your support will help make this a better project, whether it means purchasing better equipment to record the facts or traveling to hunt them down in person. For more information visit patreon.com/immigrantsong.

You can also follow this project on Twitter or on Facebook. Just search for “immigrant song.”

Our opening music is “Mexico City Blues II” by Los Negretes. Our closing music is A Meditation on Flight by Alpen. Both songs are featured via a Creative Commons license.

Narrated and produced by Robert Stribley

Show notes:

There Is No Illegal Immigrant Crisis


https://medium.com/immigration-in-america/the-is-no-illegal-immigrant-crisis-f18bae8f3e6f

Further Reading:


* Breaking News Consumer’s Handbook: Migration Edition (At Home) — On the Media, 29 July 2016


* Immigrants in the U.S. illegally have declined to the lowest level in over a decade — L.A. Times, 20 January 2016


* The Mythical Connection Between Immigrants and Crime — The Wall Street Journal, 14 July 2015


* Why Is the Undocumented-Immigrant Population Dropping? — The Atlantic, 25 January 2016