Episode description

Emily Tamkin presents Battle for the Soul of America, a three-part series from the World Review podcast that looks at Joe Biden’s first year in office. How have some of his core campaign pledges – on foreign policy, immigration and voting rights – held up?

Our second episode looks at Biden’s record on immigration. Implementing the "fair and humane" immigration system he promised on the campaign trail is proving a huge undertaking. The administration continues to embrace Trump-era policies, most controversially using Title 42 – ostensibly a public health measure that experts say is being misapplied – to deny people the right to seek asylum. And recently, the controversial “Remain in Mexico” programme was revived – a policy Biden campaigned to repeal.

Emily Tamkin speaks with two journalists covering immigration under the Biden administration: Tanvi Misra, an independent reporter based in NYC, and Adolfo Flores from BuzzFeed News. She then interviews Nancy Meza from the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (Raices) about fighting for immigrant and refugee rights in the Biden era and how it differs (and doesn’t) from that of Trump.

Further reading:

Emily asks why Joe Biden’s immigration policy looks so much like Donald Trump’s.

Emily says that on Cuba and Haiti, US policy should first seek to do no harm.

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