Donald Trump may have lost re-election, but that's not stopping him from using his final weeks to further restrict legal immigration and make it harder on President Elect Joe Biden and a new Congress to change to a broken immigration system. We discuss this and other issues facing the new administration with David Bier, Immigration Policy Analyst at the Cato Institute.
Theresa Cardinal Brown, director of immigration and cross-border policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center examines the process of repairing damage to the immigration system and the hope for a renewal of bipartisanship in Congress and among Americans.
Now that President Elect Joe Biden is hammering out his cabinet and agenda, Stan Marek, business owner and Rational Middle benefactor lays out his hopes on immigration reform leadership from the new administration.
Join co-hosts Gregory Kallenberg, Chris Lyon, and Loren Steffy as they discuss the outcome of the election and the precarious path forward for a Biden transition team and eventual administration. They also discuss the divide in our country that persists post-election and explore the prioritization of the administrative and legislative agendas for both the President Elect and Congress.
Join host Gregory Kallenberg and guest Tony Payan of the Mexico Center at Rice University's James A. Baker, III Institute for Public Policy as they discuss the legislative and administrative ramifications immigration policy for a Trump re-election or a Biden election.
In the second episode of this two-part series, host Chris Lyon continues the conversation with immigrant and employer Rodrigo Mondragon of Shreveport, Louisiana about his experience coming to the United States and finding his path to the American Dream.
Rodrigo Mondragon and his family came to the United States in the new millennium seeking a better life. He was reluctant to leave his home in Mexico, but what transpired in America would bring the two worlds together in unexpected ways, resulting in one of the most celebrated Mexican restaurants in the South.
Benjamin F. Jones, Faculty Director at Kellogg Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative (KIEI), speaks with host Loren Steffy about his new study on the relationship between immigration and the job market.
Jeremy Robbins, executive director of New American Economy (NAE), joins host Loren Steffy to explore how communities can create a more welcoming community through services and infrastructure like Offices of New Americans — and why doing so will help struggling communities grow again.
Join the hosts for a 2020 roundup during the 50th episode. We look back at the first 50 episodes of The Rational Middle Podcast, kicking off season 2 of The Rational Middle Documentary Series, the pandemic, the election, and immigration's intersectionality.
Loren C. Steffy, an author and the executive producer of The Rational Middle of Immigration documentary series, speaks with host Chris Lyon about the release of his new book "Deconstructed: An Insider's View of Illegal Immigration and the Building Trades" which intertwines construction industry leader Stan Marek’s family history, the timeline of the Marek family of companies, and the history of immigration.
Dr. Ruth Ellen Wasem has just completed a major study of Trump's asylum policies. In her findings, she breaks down the kinds of actions his administration takes into three distinct categories which help provide historical and global geopolitical context for America's changing immigration system.
Children are the future of our country and our world. How we welcome immigrant children and children of immigrant parents will define the course our nation takes. Dr. Robert Sanborn, President and CEO of Children at Risk, a research and advocacy organization, talks about their data-driven approach to changing policy in Texas.
This morning we are announcing the premiere episode of season 2 of our documentary video series on immigration in association with Children at Risk, an organization which serves as a catalyst for change to improve the quality of life for children through strategic research, public policy analysis, education, collaboration, and advocacy.
Dr. Linda Lopez, former Chief of the Office of Immigrant Affairs in Los Angeles under Mayor Eric Garcetti. She talks about her experience in cultivating a more welcoming community through creation of services which extended economic and social opportunities to new Americans, and how those concepts could translate to cities across America.
It is often easy to forget how integrated into American society undocumented immigrants are, but Carlos Aguilar's journey is proof positive that they can have a positive economic and cultural impact on the United States, despite the challenges they face.
As the administration continues to push hard against immigration, esteemed professor Dr. Michael E. Webber of the University of Texas at Austin recounts his experience with immigrants in academia and why he believes that continuing to welcome immigrant students, researchers, and professors is key to American prosperity.
Randy Capps is Director of Research for U.S. Programs at the Migration Policy Institute and he sits down with us to discuss the varying perspectives on costs of the undocumented population in America and what those differing perspectives might bring to finding a solution that works for everyone.
Ben Johnson, Executive Director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) talks with Rational Middle's Gregory Kallenberg about the opportunity that immigration brings to our country and how that aligns with core values across the American experience.
Today we talk about the wall on the southern border of the United States — its efficacy and impact — with Dr. Luz Maria Garcini, a scholar at the Center for the United States and Mexico and an Assistant Professor at the Center for Research to Advance Community Health.
Mark Erlich, former union leader for the New England Regional Council of Carpenters and now a Wertheim Fellow of Research on Misclassification and the Underground Economy at the Harvard Law School, discusses the challenges and impacts of misclassification of workers and the influence of this practice on immigrant laborers, the undocumented, and American-born workers.
Ken Janda, Adjunct Professor in Healthcare Management at the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University, discusses the challenges that we face as a country regarding uninsured Americans, the undocumented, COVID-19, and the cost of healthcare.
Victoria DeFrancesco Soto, assistant dean for civic engagement and a lecturer at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin, shares the history of the undocumented and their struggle to forge avenues to legal status in America — including DACA recipients find themselves today and what they might expect in the future.
Iliana Perez, Director of Research & Entrepreneurship at Immigrants Rising, shares her thoughts on the DACA Supreme Court decision, her personal story as a Dreamer, and how that has driven her work in providing resources to immigrants — from legal assistance, work opportunities, small business investment, and access to mental healthcare — regardless of status.
Tom Jawetz, Vice President of Immigration Policy at Center for American Progress, speaks on his experience with getting legislation across the finish line and what it takes to build bipartisan bills in Congress as well as how to bring about change at the state and local level.
This special edition of the Rational Middle podcast was recorded this morning as the decision on DACA was handed down by the Supreme Court. Charles Foster is Chairman at Foster, LLP, one of the larger immigration law firms in the country. He is the past national president AILA (American Immigration Lawyers Association), and senior immigration policy advisor to George W. Bush and Barack Obama. He discusses the challenge DACA faced in the courts and reacts in real time to the decision to strike do...
Steven Scarborough, Strategic Initiatives Manager at Center for Houston’s Future, discusses the latest research on the impact on immigrants working on all levels of healthcare to fight against the coronavirus.
Tony Payan & Pamela Lizette Cruz of the James A. Baker, III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University discuss ways to solve the challenges associated with the undocumented population through the concepts of identification and taxation which must form the basis of any pathway to legal status.
Pat Kiley, a founding principal of Kiley Advisors LLC, a consulting firm that advises CEO’s and Senior Executives on matters of Leadership and Strategy, talks with host Loren Steffy about the history of immigration and the construction industry and the need for comprehensive reform.
Theresa Cardinal Brown, director of immigration and cross-border policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, explains the challenges of attaining bipartisan change in Washington, D.C. on issues, including immigration.
