Parsing Immigration Policy

On this episode of Parsing Immigration Policy, we are joined by Sheriff Mark Dannels of Cochise County, Ariz., and Andrew Arthur, Resident Fellow in Law and Policy at the Center for Immigration Studies. Cochise County is located along Arizona’s southeastern border with Mexico, and Sheriff Dannels and his colleagues have had to deal with the border crisis firsthand. This week’s topic is a rather grim one – the deaths of illegal immigrants at the border.Both guests recently testified at a joint House subcommittee hearing in Arizona on the effects of the border crisis on American communities and explain on the podcast how the level of security at the border under the Biden administration has never been lower, which is luring more migrants to put themselves in harm’s way by hiring smugglers to bring them to the United States.Sheriff Dannels describes the inhumane conditions migrants find themselves in when they make the illegal journey to the United States, comparing the agreements they make with smugglers to “modern-day slavery”. Arthur explains that so long as migrants believe they’ll be allowed to enter illegally, they will hire smugglers to bring them to the country. Due to the Biden administration’s “catch-and-release” policies, migrants are more willing than ever to place their lives in the hands of dangerous and rapacious criminals who are only interested in money—often with the deadliest of consequences.In his closing commentary, Mark Krikorian, Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies and host of the Parsing Immigration Policy, speculates that the litigation over the thousand-foot long marine barrier on the Rio Grande placed by Texas Gov. Abbott may reach the Supreme Court, allowing the justices to rule on whether the border crisis caused by the current administration constitutes an “invasion” under the Constitution.HostMark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.GuestMark Dannels is Sheriff of Cochise County, AZ.RelatedScorching Heat Is Contributing to Migrant DeathsSearch and Rescue Stats Highlight Humanitarian Disaster at the BorderFifth Circuit Grants Stay in Texas Rio Grande Barrier CaseFollowFollow Parsing Immigration Policy on Ricochet, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts.Intro MontageVoices in the opening montage:Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

San Jacinto county is located north of Houston and over 200 miles from the southern U.S.-Mexico border. This rural county and the surrounding areas, including Liberty County, have seen an explosion of migrant settlement and increasing cartel activity.In this week’s episode of Parsing Immigration Policy, San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers joins guest host Todd Bensman to discuss how lax federal border security is straining the ability to police his jurisdiction. Sheriff Capers explains how, with a small county budget and reactive policing, there is a need for increased cooperation and funding from both the state and federal authorities.HostTodd Benman is a Senior National Security Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies.GuestGreg Capers is Sheriff of San Jacinto County, Texas.RelatedTexas Massacre Happened in America’s Largest Illegal Immigrant “Colonia” — and Major U.S. Media Won’t Say SoAmerica’s Public Schools: Canaries in the Coal Mine of the Biden Border CrisisFollowFollow Parsing Immigration Policy on Ricochet, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts.Intro MontageVoices in the opening montage:Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

The Center for Immigration Studies hosted a panel discussion entitled “Parole and the CBP One App: Fact and Fiction”. Speakers examined the legality of the CBP One App scheme, the number of entries, legal challenges, and the myths put forth about it.Mark Morgan, former Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, joined Center for Immigration Studies experts to discuss how the Biden administration took the CBP One smartphone app – a tool originally designed to smooth legal cross-border traffic – and turned it into a means of facilitating illegal immigration.Mark Krikorian, the Center’s executive director and host of Parsing Immigration Policy, moderates this rebroadcast of the Center's panel.HostMark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.GuestsMark Morgan, Visiting Fellow, Border Security and Immigration Center, Heritage FoundationFormer Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, former Acting Director of U. S. Immigration and Customs EnforcementAndrew Arthur, Resident Fellow in Law and Policy, Center for Immigration StudiesFormer Immigration Judge, former Counsel on the House Judiciary Committee, and former Acting Chief of the INS National Security Law Division.RelatedPanel VideoPanel TranscriptPanel Press ReleaseFollowFollow Parsing Immigration Policy on Ricochet, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts.Intro MontageVoices in the opening montage:Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

Congress created the first guestworker programs to fill labor shortages on a temporary basis, without displacing American workers or abusing the foreign workers.Over time, the programs have multiplied and expanded, such that now close to a million people a year are imported for both less-skilled and professional-level jobs. American workers are, in fact, displaced, the “temporary” foreign workers often stay permanently, and are often exploited. Is it possible for guestworker programs to work as Congress intended?In this week’s episode of Parsing Immigration Policy, David North, a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, joins host Mark Krikorian, North’s experience with the foreign worker issue dates back to the Eisenhower administration. He says the primary question regarding guestworker policies is whether government policy should make it easier for employers to meet their labor needs by importing labor from outside the U.S.The easiest solution would be for Congress to abolish some or all guestworker programs. Noting that this is unlikely to occur, North and Krikorian discuss whether lawmakers have prioritized the guestworker issue sufficiently to ensure that reforms that would guarantee fairness to American workers, such as requiring employers to make a positive effort to hire American workers before recruiting foreign labor. North suggests reforms that would improve the chances that Americans are not pushed out of the workforce, foreign workers are not abused, and the programs are genuinely temporary.In his closing commentary, Krikorian highlights a new report from the Center relevant to the foreign-worker debate. “Working-Age, but Not Working” examines the long-term decline of U.S.-born, working-age men in the labor force, particularly among those without a bachelor’s degree. This large population of U.S.-born individuals on the sidelines of the labor market contributes to a host of social problems, but the availability of cheap immigrant labor allows employers, and society at large, to ignore their plight and not invest in bringing them into the labor market.HostMark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.GuestDavid North is a Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies.RelatedWorking-Age, but Not WorkingFollowFollow Parsing Immigration Policy on YouTube, Ricochet, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts.Intro MontageVoices in the opening montage:Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

A new government report confirms that the Biden administration’s policies accommodating illegal immigration are harming the legal immigration system.On this week’s episode of Parsing Immigration Policy, Elizabeth Jacobs, the Center for Immigration Studies director of regulatory affairs and policy, joins host Mark Krikorian to discuss the findings and implications of a congressionally mandated annual report from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman, an independent office within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).USCIS administers the nation’s lawful immigration system, and Jacobs (a former USCIS official) explains how its mission has been threatened by the administration’s determined efforts to bring inadmissible aliens to the United States as quickly as possible and expand work authorization opportunities for aliens who lack a lawful immigration status.The discussion delves into the effects of key policies, including misuse of parole and expansion of Temporary Protected Status (TPS).Jacobs underscores the need for adherence to congressional mandates: “If USCIS leadership is serious about bolstering the legal immigration system and maintaining reasonable processing times for immigration services, it has to focus its resources on programs that have been authorized by Congress – it cannot keep creating programs that are not authorized.”In his closing commentary, Mark Krikorian, host of the podcast and executive director of the Center, discusses a new Biden administration tactic in its fight to force Texas to remove the marine barriers it has placed in the Rio Grande – specifically, cynical administration claims that the barriers are endangering a mussel species in the Rio Grande.HostMark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.GuestElizabeth Jacobs is the Director of Regulatory Affairs and Policy at the Center for Immigration Studies.RelatedUSCIS Ombudsman Confirms: Biden Policies Hobble Legal Immigration System; Report shows how inadmissible aliens are often prioritized over lawful visa holdersA Cynical Shell Game; The Biden administration's sudden concern for the Rio Grande’s Mexican fawnsfoot musselVideo: Todd Bensman Explains Trash Field Left by Illegal Entrants on the Rio Grande RiverbankFollowFollow Parsing Immigration Policy on YouTube, Ricochet, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts.Intro MontageVoices in the opening montage:Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

Several studies and books have highlighted how migrants, either within one country or from one to another, transmit certain elements of their culture to their descendants rather than fully assimilating to the new culture. This has been observed in the migration of Southerners within the United States, for example, as well as among immigrants coming from abroad.On this week’s episode of Parsing Immigration Policy, Jason Richwine, resident scholar at the Center for Immigration Studies, joins host Mark Krikorian to discuss his recent academic journal article on cultural persistence among immigrants and their descendants, specifically examining savings behavior.In the study, Richwine found strong correlation between the national savings rate in immigrants’ country of origin and the personal retirement savings of immigrants from those countries and their U.S.-born children, even when controlled for factors such as income, age, sex, and education. Interestingly, the savings behavior for the second generation (the children of immigrants) has even stronger correlation with that of the home country.Richwine explains that cultural persistence has big implications for the current immigration conditions. “If you think about the administration using very legally dubious means to bring in far more immigrants to the United States than Congress ever authorized . . . given what we know about cultural persistence, they are changing the country in the long run, in a way that cannot be undone.”HostMark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.GuestJason Richwine is a Resident Scholar at the Center for Immigration Studies.RelatedSavings behavior among immigrants and their U.S.-born children: A test of the culture-transplant modelCIS Scholar's Paper on Cultural Persistence Published in Academic JournalYet Another Study Shows How Migrants Transplant Their CultureStill More Evidence for Cultural PersistenceFollowFollow Parsing Immigration Policy on YouTube, Ricochet, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts.Intro MontageVoices in the opening montage:Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

Permissive legal and illegal immigration policies have been shown to hurt the working class in America the most. Yet, the media and corporate America often repeat the myth that there are certain jobs Americans won’t do, and that the U.S. is experiencing a labor shortage. They conclude, therefore, that we need immigrants to fill these gaps, which are predominantly in less-skilled fields.On this episode of Parsing Immigration Policy, Oren Cass, executive director of American Compass and author of The Once and Future Worker, joins guest host Steven Camarota, the Center’s director of research, to debunk these myths about the need for immigrants to enter the U.S. labor force. In reality, giving employers access to immigrant labor (both legal and illegal) suppresses wages and removes the incentive for employers to improve working conditions for Americans.Cass and Camarota discuss the difference in how policymakers and business leaders approach less-skilled labor versus more-skilled, due in large part to an addiction to cheap consumption. Current visa programs benefit consumers and employers with lower prices while hurting the American worker, and Cass notes that very low unemployment rates and rising wages are identified as a problem only when the working class experience them.Cass argues that our government should take steps to reduce illegal immigration and the best way to do this is to make it costly for employers to employ those not authorized to work. Illegal immigrants compete with the most vulnerable Americans and depress wages. The two experts agree that E-Verify, an internet-based system that allows an employer to determine a new hire’s eligibility to work, is a key tool for influencing employers.In discussing legal immigration, Cass prefers the number of legal immigrants admitted to our country yearly remain the same, but he contends that the types of legal immigrants we are accepting should change – high-skilled, high-earning immigrants should be emphasized, as they will in turn create better employment opportunities for working-class Americans.Camarota and Cass close out the podcast with a discussion on the importance of training Americans for these higher-skilled jobs as opposed to expanding the labor supply by importing high-skilled immigrants.HostSteven Camarota is the Director of Research at the Center for Immigration Studies.GuestOren Cass is the Executive Director of American Compass and author of The Once and Future Worker.RelatedOren Cass BioAmerican Compass: Rebuilding American CapitalismEvidence Shows that Immigration Reduces Wages SignificantlyHow Immigration Affects Workers: Two Wrong Models and a Right OneFollowFollow Parsing Immigration Policy on YouTube, Ricochet, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts.Intro MontageVoices in the opening montage:Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

The Center for Immigration Studies recently uncovered what appears to be deliberate participation in alien smuggling by the Department of Homeland Security. Todd Bensman, the Center’s senior national security fellow, revealed the facilitation of illegal entry of large numbers of aliens across the Rio Grande River. George Fishman, the Center’s senior legal fellow, joins Parsing Immigration Policy to examine the legal implications for the Biden administration as he detailed in a recent report.If proven, these allegations would constitute criminal violations of the federal anti-alien-smuggling law, with the greatest culpability falling on the members of the Biden administration who came up with the scheme and ordered it carried out.Fishman draws parallels between what he has dubbed “Rio Grande-Gate” and congressional Democrats’ investigation into the Reagan administration’s “Iran-Contra Affair”. He hopes that Democrats will treat the allegations against Biden’s DHS with the same level of seriousness.Fishman also urges Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel to investigate this matter, given doubts that AG Garland’s DOJ could conduct a fair investigation. The next administration could also investigate, as the statute of limitations on most alien smuggling crimes is five years.In his closing commentary, Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies and host of Parsing Immigration Policy, discusses a different potential courtroom drama involving the Biden administration. This week, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit to stop Texas from putting up marine barriers along the Rio Grande to prevent illegal aliens from crossing into the U.S. and it’s likely that Texas will invoke the invasion clauses of the U.S. and Texas constitutions in its defense, representing the first time that issue would be litigated.HostMark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.GuestGeorge Fishman is the Senior Legal Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies.RelatedRio Grande-Gate: Are Biden administration officials deliberately engaged in alien smuggling and are they subject to criminal prosecution?Texas DPS Defends the Border; CBP Helps Migrants EnterTexas to Deploy Marine Barrier in the Rio Grande to Block New Surge of ImmigrantsVideo: A Cold Border War Breaks Out Between Abbott’s Texas and Biden’s White HouseFollowFollow Parsing Immigration Policy on YouTube, Ricochet, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts.Intro MontageVoices in the opening montage:Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

Conflict has erupted at the Texas-Mexico border between two different arms of law enforcement – Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). CBP has been instructed by the Biden administration to bring migrants they encounter into the country, after which they are released with a notice to appear, and then put on a bus to an American city of their choosing, essentially assisting migrants in their illegal entry into the U.S. Texas DPS has taken border enforcement into its own hands, physically blocking migrants from entering along the Mexican border with Texas and arresting illegal migrants for trespassing when they cross.To discuss this “border cold war”, Todd Bensman, the Center for Immigration Studies’ Texas-based senior national security fellow, joins this week’s episode of Parsing Immigration Policy. He shares what he saw firsthand during his visit to Eagle Pass, Texas and the cross-border town of Piedras Negras, Mexico. Bensman explains that migrants will call out to Border Patrol for assistance when stopped by Texas DPS, as they are almost guaranteed entry to the U.S. once in CBP custody. Bensman points out the irony of the situation – “Not so long ago, immigrants trying to cross illegally would hide from the Border Patrol, but now they’re sort of like the saviors.”In his closing commentary, Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center and host of Parsing Immigration Policy, discusses a British government plan, that is on its way to becoming law, to deter illegal asylum seekers. Similar in many ways to Trump’s Remain in Mexico policy, the Illegal Immigration Bill would ensure that illegal immigrants could not use asylum as a pretext for entering the country. Instead of being released in Britain, they would be sent to Rwanda to apply for asylum where they could settle or sent to another safe third country.HostMark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.GuestTodd Bensman is the Senior National Security Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies.RelatedTexas vs. Biden — State Fights to Enforce Border, as White House Waves in Illegal MigrantsDispatch from a Militarized Texas Farm - Where Biden's Federal Agents Are Sabotaging the State's Desperate Border EnforcementFollowFollow Parsing Immigration Policy on YouTube, Ricochet, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts.Intro MontageVoices in the opening montage:Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

Sanctuary jurisdictions are states or localities that obstruct the enforcement of immigration laws and shield criminals from federal authorities. And Washington sends millions in funding to them anyway.On this episode of Parsing Immigration Policy, host and Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies Mark Krikorian is joined by the Center’s Director of Policy Studies Jessica Vaughan to discuss a new report that details how much money the federal government has given to sanctuary jurisdictions. Vaughan explains, “The Department of Justice has a number of law enforcement-related funding programs that give money for various purposes to local and state police, and a very large share of that money … goes to jurisdictions that are actively subverting the enforcement of the immigration laws by the federal government, the same federal government that’s giving them money.”The report uses publicly available information to quantify the amount of money that has gone to these jurisdictions that actively obstruct the legitimate activities of ICE, at the expense of law-abiding members of their communities. Vaughan also explains how Congress can hold these jurisdictions accountable and discourage sanctuary policies.In his closing commentary, Mark Krikorian highlights the Biden administration’s recent announcement of its “Family Reunification Parole Program” for certain aliens in Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, which would allow nationals from these countries to skip the line to enter the country ahead of all other green card-eligible aliens.HostMark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.GuestJessica Vaughan is the Director of Policy Studies at the Center for Immigration Studies.RelatedStill Subsidizing Sanctuaries: DOJ sends millions to jurisdictions that undermine federal law and public safetyMap: Sanctuary Cities, Counties, and StatesThis is the Hometown of San Francisco’s Drug DealersAre Immigrants Less Willing to Report Crime? Data from the National Crime Victimization Survey says “No.”DHS Creates Yet Another Parole Program for Aliens to Cut in LineFollowFollow Parsing Immigration Policy on YouTube, Ricochet, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts.Intro MontageVoices in the opening montage:Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".