Scholars’ Circle – US Policy of Policing Immigrants; Author Interview on “Borders, Politics and Belonging” – April 12, 2026

Kristi Noem, the controversial Secretary of Homeland Security, was fired from her position in March of 2026. Her short tenure as secretary was marked by numerous accusations of overreach of power, violations of due process particularly with regard to immigrants without proper documentation, and killing of protesters, notably in Minnesota, at the hands of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. On today’s show we will review Secretary Noem’s tenure at the Department and the future of ICE and the immigration raids she instituted. [ dur: 35mins. ] Naomi Paik is Associate Professor of Global Asian Studies and Criminology, Law and Justice at University of Illinois, Chicago. She is the author of Bans, Walls, Raids, Sanctuary: Understanding U.S. Immigration for the 21st Century and Rightlessness: Testimony and Redress in U.S. Prison Camps since World War II, winner, Best Book in History. Luke William Hunt is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Alabama. He is the author of The Police Identity Crisis — Hero, Warrior, Guardian, Algorithm and Police Deception and Dishonesty – The Logic of Lying . How does immigration and the border define identity and belonging? We revisit a book on borders and their impact on immigration, identity, and belonging. [ dur: 23mins. ] Hiroshi Motomura is the Susan Westerberg Prager Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of Americans in Waiting: The Lost Story of Immigration and Citizenship in the United States and his latest book Borders and Belonging: Toward a Fair Immigration Policy. This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian, Anna Lapin and Sudd Dongre. Politics and Activism, Human Rights, police, Refugees, immigrants