It’s June 2023, and the government just changed the rules again for asylum seekers at the southern border. So what is going on right now at the southern border? We have talked in previous episodes about Title 42, the public health law that was used as a pretext to block asylum seekers from entering the U.S. during the pandemic. On May 12, the administration ended Title 42 and rolled out a new set of policies aimed at reducing the number of asylum seekers who enter the U.S. every day, including requiring people to sign up for a limited number of daily appointments on a mobile phone app. So how is this all playing out for people?In this episode we talk with Laura Peña, Director of ProBar, which is part of the American Bar Association and provides legal services to immigrants in Harlingen, Texas. Harlingen is in the Rio Grande Valley, right across the border from Matamoros, Mexico. Laura is an immigration expert who has held many directing positions, including working at the Department of State under the Obama Administration, and leading the Beyond Borders program at the Texas Civil Rights Project.. Laura is from the Rio Grande Valley herself, and she also hosts her own podcast, Valle de Sueños. It’s the story of a 10-day journey by border advocates to shut down a refugee encampment in Matamoros, Mexico.

Music: Gymnopedie No. 3 - Wahneta Meixsell

Vanessa Joseph is the daughter of immigrants, and an attorney at Catholic Charities Legal Services in Miami. In her work, Vanessa serves a wide variety of immigrants, including many black immigrants. She is also the City Clerk for the City of North Miami, and is the youngest as well as the first black female elected to the position. Vanessa joins us today for a focus on black migration, where we specifically dive into the many challenges faced by Haitian asylum seekers in the U.S.

In our first episode of Season 2, we delved into the Biden Administration’s recent new immigration policies, which include “parole” programs for a limited number of people from 4 countries: Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Last season we talked about the administration’s other specialized parole program for Ukrainians, as well as humanitarian parole for Afghan.

Since our last episode went live, a number of states filed a lawsuit taking aim at some of these parole programs. Here with us today to talk about the lawsuit is Victoria Neilson, Supervising Attorney at the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild.

It's a new year, and recently, the Biden Administration announced sweeping border policy changes, including an expansion of Title 42, new parole programs for people from certain countries, and an upcoming rule that would bar thousands fleeing persecution from seeking asylum in our country.

Joining us for this episode is Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Policy Director for the American Immigration Council.

In the early spring of 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine and started a war. Thousands of Ukrainians fled their homes in search of safety. Most remain displaced, unsure of when they can go home, and if home will even be there when they return.

On today's episode, we are joined by Vita Zeltser, a Ukrainian-born, U.S.-licensed data privacy lawyer. Vita tells us about her journey to Poland to assist refugees, using her legal skills to help those resettling in the U.S., and the stories of those she's met along the way.

We’ve talked on some episodes lately about how our immigration system often treats families and individuals seeking safety in our country differently based on where they are from. We spoke on our last episode, Left Behind, about how Afghans and Ukrainians seeking emergency entry into the U.S. have seen very different results. Since the publication of that episode, we have obtained even more information about the data behind those assertions. We now know that of all the requests filed by Ukrainians under a special U.S. program, about 70% of the applications have been approved. Compare that to requests by Afghans to urgently enter the U.S., where only .19% of applicants filed have been approved.

To help us parse through this, we're joined in this episode by Laila Ayub, an attorney with Project ANAR. Laila and her colleagues at Project ANAR engage in legal assistance and advocacy on behalf of the Afghan community seeking safety in the U.S.

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Almost one year ago, the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan and the country fell to Taliban rule. While some were able to evacuate in the chaos, tens of thousands of Afghans remain in hiding, many of whom are specifically targeted due to the assistance they provided U.S. forces.

On this episode, we're joined by Afghan-American immigration lawyer Spojmie Nasiri. Over the last year, Spojmie has heard harrowing stories from many families seeking safety in the U.S. She talks about her work and experience after the fall of Kabul, and the policy choices our government has made along the way.