February 09, 2025

Scholars’ Circle – Book author interview: Borders and Belonging; Trump’s immigration policies: Communities respond to ICE raids – February 9, 2025

58 minutes

What exactly is the political, physical, and existential meanings of borders? Borders are human creations but often define state and national boundaries and even identities. They define belonging to a nation. And under this new administration, borders have become the most visible feature not just of policy but who belongs in the United States. Our first guest has written a new book on borders and their impact on our conversations on immigration, borders, and belonging. Hiroshi Motomura is the author of BORDERS AND BELONGING: TOWARDS A FAIR IMMIGRATION POLICY. [ dur: 27mins. ]

Hiroshi Motomura, the Susan Westerberg Prager Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of Americans in Waiting: The Lost Story of Immigration and Citizenship in the United States and his latest book Borders and Belonging: Toward a Fair Immigration Policy.

Then, the Trump Administration’s approach to immigration, the raids, mass deportations, concentration camps, and shipping people to Guantanamo Bay may all be illegal. What is the relationship between law and national values and identity, and what legal changes has President Trump proposed? How are communities responding to ICE? [ dur: 31mins. ]

Victor Narro, Project Director for the UCLA Labor Center and Core Faculty for the UCLA Department of Labor Studies; He teaches immigration law and is author of The Activist Spirit – Toward a Radical Solidarity , No One Size Fits All: Worker Organization, Policy, and Movement in a New Economic Age and others.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker and Sudd Dongre.

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