The Complexities of Immigration Law

From the ICE arrest and detention of pro-Palestinian organizers to the mass revocation of student visas to the deportation of hundreds of immigrants to El Salvador, the Trump administration’s assault on noncitizens has been as headline-grabbing as it has been brutal. But even though the sheer speed and spectacle of the offensive makes it appear new, many of the legal and enforcement tools at play are old, with the administration drawing on Cold War-era laws, War on Terror-era agencies, and Obama- and Biden-era precedents. In this episode of On the Nose, we speak with the deportation defense lawyer Sophia Elena Gurulé and immigration reporter Tanvi Misra about the ongoing clampdowns, where they are following precedents and where they are setting them, and the stakes of understanding these historical continuities.

Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”

Texts Mentioned and Further Resources:

“Mapping Who Lives in Border Patrol’s ‘100-Mile Zone,’” Tanvi Misra, Bloomberg

“The Origins of American Immigration Detention,” Tanvi Misra, Bloomberg

“Civil War-Era Parallels to the Sanctuary City Movement,” Tanvi Misra, Bloomberg

“If You Build It, ICE Will Fill It: The Link Between Detention Capacity and ICE Arrests,” Detention Watch

“Trump says he wants to deport US citizens to El Salvador,” Gaby Del Valle, The Verge

Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism by Harsha Walia

Unbuild Walls: Why Immigrant Justice Needs Abolition by Silky Shah