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This week Matthew and I discuss the recent State of the Union address. Republicans scare monger about fetanyl and house prices. Blaming your troubles on immigrants is as American as apple pie, but the rhetoric does seem to be ramping up. Is it worse than in years past, or are we suffering from recency bias?  Support the show by becoming a Patron at patreon.com/redirect  Leave us a review on itunes Or check out the merch at redirect.threadless.com

This week Matthew and I talk about a a recent announcement by the Biden administration that they will provide certain relief to immigrants who are exploited in the work place. The announcement can be found here.  We share stories from our clients about their deplorable working conditions, and discuss the current state of T and U visas, which can be certified by the Department of Labor.  Also, what song will be playing when we die and go to hell.  Support the show by becoming a patron at patreon.com/redirect Grab yourself a Redirect t-shirt, sticker, and/or leggings at https://redirect.threadless.com

This week Matthew and I showed up and recorded something. We broke up the band and got back together in the same episode. We talked about the current state of immigration lawyering. It turns out we’re both feeling a bit burned out and exhausted. However, we’ve decided to dust off our gym shoes and get back to it with some new years resolutions. This includes regularly scheduled shows, you know, actual content. It’s a revolutionary idea.  We’re also joined by friend of the show Austin Kocher to talk about his work at TRAC, the surveillance state, how numbers at the border are crunched, and more.  Support the show by becoming a patron at patreon.com/redirect Grab yourself a Redirect t-shirt, sticker, and/or leggings at https://redirect.threadless.com Follow Austin’s work over at https://substack.com/profile/14591254-austin-kocher You can learn more about TRAC here: https://trac.syr.edu

After the midterms democrats in the senate have vowed to take up the DREAM Act. It doesn't seem like they have the votes, which is depressing. Opposition to the DREAM Act is often wrapped up in "concerns" about "floodgates," or "border security," but these are simply ways to offuscate and avoid a serious conversation about how to help people and fix our immigration system. Give this episode a listen. 

Democrats don't carrot all and the republicans want to stick them in camps. This week Matthew and I talk about HSI and marriage fraud, "United for Venezuela" and the expansion of Title 42. A series of unforced errors! 

This week we're joined by fellow immigration attorney Matt Cameron (@matt_cam) to discuss the fall out of the Ron Desantis Martha's Vineyard "stunt." Deterrence policy is always cruel, and this was no exception. Like most rightwing jokes, it was also extraordinarily stupid.  We also took a crack at the congressional republican's "Commitment to America" and it's extremely detailed four point immigration plan. Big brained ideas galore! 

This week Matthew and I are joined by fellow immigration attorney Taylor Levy to talk about the situation on the border. Taylor is one of the most knowledgable attorneys when it comes to what is actually happening on the U.S./Mexico border.  We also asked about the recent series of bussing/private-jetting stunts carried about by republican governors. Just this week Florida Governor Ron Desantis appears to have lured a group of about 50 Venezuelan immigrants to Martha's Vineyard in an effort to own the libs. Very serious policy work!  This is a great episode for understanding the basics of what's going on at the border and what we need to do to fix it. If you enjoy the episode, consider sending a couple dollars to Taylor, who is great:  Venmo: @taylorklevy (#9700), CashApp: $taylorklevy PayPal/QuickPay/Zelle/Mentoring: taylorlevylaw@gmail.com

This week Matthew and I get together to check in on the status of her Majesty and to discuss developments in our immigration practices. DACA, removal proceedings, our relationships with ICE and more.    

I quibbled and squabbled over scrabble and tribbles. This week we're happy to be joined by Sonia Lenegan, an immigration advocate and solicitor in the U.K. Sonia works as a legal and policy director at a charity helping asylum seekers.  We wanted to see which country has the worse immigration system, and while it was a close call we ultimately gave our guest the "win."   

This week on Redirect: Immigration Law and Perspectives we're joined by Dr. Reece Jones, author of Nobody is Protected: How the Border Patrol Became the Most Dangerous Police Force in the United States.  Dr. Jones is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Geography and Enviroment at University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. His new book about the border patrol is a must read for immigration activists and anyone trying to understand how and why we ended up in this place. 

This week we're joined by Austin Kocher to talk abou the growing surveillance aparatus being used by ICE.  Austin Kocher is an Assistant Professor at @TRACReports @SyracuseU, Graduate of @OSUGeography and friend of the show.

This week we're joined by Sarah Pitney, fellow immigration attorney extraordinaire, to discuss the intersection of LGBTQ issues and immigration. This was a great conversation and I learned a lot.  Sarah Pitney is a Senior Attorney at Benach Collopy LLP. Sarah joined Benach Collopy after serving as an immigration attorney for two years Miami, Florida. They have represented clients in various proceedings on both the detained and non-detained dockets before the Immigration Courts. In addition to their experience in deportation defense, Sarah has also represented clients in family-based petitions, adjustment of status, waivers, asylum, and naturalization cases before United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

This week Matthew and I discuss the administration's efforts to speed up the asylum application process. For a system as broken as this one, these changes amount to window dressing. But it is at least a step in the right direction? 

This week we're joined by Austin Kocher (@ackocher), assistant professor at the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) to talk about "Alternatives to Detention." As it turns out, these technologies are rarely used as "alternatives," but rather "in addition to" detention.  TRAC has some interesting data here: https://trac.syr.edu/whatsnew/email.220217.html… https://reuters.com/world/us/private-prison-company-test-us-house-arrest-program-immigrants-2022-02-16/…  

This week Matthew and I work our way through a couple of recent immigration stories. The owner of a marijuana dispensary has her naturalization application denied for a lack of "good moral character," an attorney tweeting about MPP hearings is asked to take down her tweets, and more. 

This week Matthew and I try to play catch up. It's been just over a year with the Biden administration, and with a few exceptions things remain . . . pretty terrible? The administration continues to defend some of the worst Trump policies in court, while the agencies remain deeply scarred from the previous four years. 

We're going to be taking a little break from the podcast. A recent cancer diagnosis in the family has me stretched for time, and frankly not in the right headspace for "entertaining." Hopefully it's a short break, but we'll see.  Thank you so much for all the kind words of support from over the years. It's been a real pleasure to get to know some of you and to hear how the podcast has influenced you in your thinking when it comes to immigrants.  Let's talk again soon under better circumstances. 

This week we're happy to have back Jason Dzubow, fellow immigration attorney and the author of The Asylumist: How to Seek Asylum in the United States and Keep Your Sanity.  Jason talks about his recent experiences with Afghan asylum seekers, practice pointers for old timers like Matthew, and more. 

This week we're joined by Professor Reece Jones to talk about his latest book,White Borders: The History of Race and Immigration in the United States from Chinese Exclusion to the Border Wall.   

This week Matthew and I discuss the new DHS enforcement memo, disarray at the department, and we try out our tin foil hats for a minute.