Episodes
-
Ep. 200: This Week in Immigration
In the 200th and final episode of "This Week in Immigration," host Jack Malde and BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown reflect on the Bipartisan Policy Center's decade-long involvement in immigration reform. Joined by Henry Cisneros, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, they...
-
Ep. 199: Immigration Policy and the U.S. Economy
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown sits down with Wendy Edelberg of the Brookings Institution and Stan Veuger of the American Enterprise Institute to discuss their recent report, Immigration Policy and Its Macroeconomic Effects in the Second Trump Administration. We...
-
Ep. 198: Immigrants and Adults in the Workforce Development System
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown sits down with Amanda Bergson-Shilcock, senior fellow at the National Skills Coalition, to discuss the importance of our workforce development system, the urgent need to address skills gaps and the role that immigrants can play in...
-
Ep. 197: How Pro-Immigration Policies Can Win Public Support in an Era of Populism
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown sits down with Morris Levy, associate professor of Political Science and International Relations at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, to explore a recent study he co-authored, Integration Policy Specifics and...
-
Ep. 195: How to Make Immigration Popular Through Demonstrably Beneficial Policies (re-release)
This week, we're re-releasing an episode from May 2024 featuring an interview with Alexander Kustov on his forthcoming book, In Our Interest: How to Make Immigration Popular. The book was recently published on April 29, 2025, making now an opportune time to revisit the conversation. In the…
more -
Ep 194: What Would a New Birthright Citizenship Rule Mean for U.S. Parents?
In this week's episode of This Week in Immigration, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown discusses the implications of a recent executive order that has sought to limit birthright citizenship in the United States. Immigration attorney and MacArthur Fellow Margaret Stock explains what current...
-
Ep. 193: What Do the Latest Administration Actions Mean for Foreign Students in the U.S.?
In this week's episode of This Week in Immigration, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown discusses the Trump administration's actions to rescind foreign students' status in the U.S. with two experts. Steve Springer from NAFSA explains the roles of educational institutions, students, and the...
-
Ep. 192: Healthcare Workforce Shortages and Immigration's Vital Role
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown interviews Associate Director Jack Malde about BPC's new report Bridging the Gap: Meeting Workforce Needs Over the Next Decade. The report uses a data-driven approach to identify the occupations and industries at the highest risk…
more -
Ep. 191: Fixing the H-1B Lottery
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown sits down with Angelo Paparelli, a long-time immigration law expert, and Jeremy Neufeld from the Institute for Progress to discuss the H-1B visa lottery system. They explore the history of the lottery, recent policy changes, and...
-
Ep. 190: Estimating the Unauthorized Immigrant Population
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown sits down with Robert Warren from the Center for Migration Studies, Jeffrey Passel from the Pew Research Center, and Jennifer Van Hook from the Migration Policy Institute to discuss methodologies used to estimate the unauthorized...
-
Ep. 189: How to Fix High-Skilled Immigration to Maximize American Interests
In this week's episode, Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown sits down with Dr. Adam Ozimek, Chief Economist at the Economic Innovation Group, and Connor O'Brien, Research and Policy Analyst at EIG, to explore their latest report, Exceptional by Design: How to Fix High-Skilled Immigration to...
-
Ep. 188: BPC's Commission on the American Workforce and Immigration's Important Role
In this week's episode, Associate Director Jack Malde talks to Executive Vice President of Human Capital, Cheryl Oldham, about BPC's recently launched Commission on the American Workforce – a bold initiative to develop a national, bipartisan strategy to strengthen the workforce, expand economic...
-
Ep. 187: The Outlook for Immigration Policy Under a New Congress and Presidency
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown talks to Jon Baselice from the US Chamber of Commerce and Debu Gandhi from the Centre for American Progress about the outlook for immigration policy under a new Congress and presidency. They cover what we have learned so far and…
more -
Ep. 186 - News Roundup: H-1Bs Divide Trump Troops, Immigration Nominations and Congressional Updates
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown and Associate Director Jack Malde round up some recent news in US immigration policy from the end of 2024 and the first weeks of 2025. They discuss recent disagreements within the Republican party on H-1B visas, President-elect...
-
Ep. 185: The Role Immigration Played in the Recent Elections
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown talks to three reporters about the role that immigration played in the recent presidential and congressional elections. Theresa is joined by Myah Ward from Politico, Priscilla Alvarez from CNN, and Marianne LeVine from the…
more -
Ep. 184: Plyler v. Doe - A High-Stakes Court Battle and Its Implications (re-release)
In this week's episode, we're re-releasing a conversation from May 2022. The leak of the Supreme Court draft decision that would overturn the seminal Roe v. Wade abortion case has sent shockwaves through the country and raises questions and implications for other long-standing precedent Supreme...
-
Ep. 183: Thanksgiving Traditions - Immigrant Perspectives (re-release)
In this week's episode, we're re-releasing a conversation from November 2021. Every year millions of families across the country gather to celebrate that quintessential American holiday: Thanksgiving. It is a story of immigration. But how do the millions of recently-arrived immigrants to this...
-
Ep. 182: Presidential Elections - How Do (Naturalized) Immigrants Vote?
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown delves into history and reality of how immigrants vote in the United States. Theresa is joined by Rachel Orey, Director of the Bipartisan Policy Center Elections Project, to discuss current legislation that defines the eligibility...
-
Ep. 181: How Immigrants Receive Help After Helene, Milton, and Other Natural Disasters
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown discusses how immigrant rights organizations and other emergency response organizations are assisting immigrants and their families affected by recent hurricanes Helene and Milton, as well as similar past natural disasters in the...
-
Ep. 180: AI in Immigration - Incorporating Emerging Technologies in Immigration Processes
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown covers how DHS and USCIS are incorporating AI into their immigration work. Theresa is joined by Paromita Shah, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Just Futures Law, who organized a letter signed by over 140 immigrant and civil...
-
Ep 179: Navigating Climate Migration: Urgent Solutions for a Global Challenge
In this week's episode, we focus on the increasingly salient issue of climate migration, delving into Climate Migration Council "A Compendium on Climate Mobility". BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown talks to Shana Tabak, the Director of Immigration at Emerson Collective and a Senior…
more -
Ep. 178: How 9/11 Shaped the American Immigration System (re-release)
In this week's episode, we're re-releasing a conversation from September 2021. BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown reflects on how the 9/11 terrorist attacks reshaped our immigration system, and what it looked like before that pivotal day.
-
Ep. 177: Have Biden's Border Plans Succeeded? And "Keeping Families Together" Program Starts
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown talks to Michelle Hackman, a US immigration reporter at the Wall Street Journal, about a recent decline in border crossings and to what extent we can credit the Biden Administration and its cooperation with Mexico. Then, Theresa…
more -
Ep. 176: New Data on Foreign-Born in the US and Budgetary Impacts of an Immigration Surge
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown delves into new U.S. Immigration data findings, covered in recent reports by the Pew Research Center and Congressional Budget Office. First, Mark Hugo Lopez, the director of race and ethnicity research at the Pew Research Center,...
-
Ep. 175: Employment Visa Paths for Dreamers and a Harris vs. Trump Presidential Race
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown delves into a recent Biden administration executive order that helps Dreamers get a work visa, with Dan Berger, a noted immigration lawyer, writer and speaker, and fellow at Cornell Law School. The pair discusses what new guidance…
more -
Ep. 174: Life After Chevron's Death – The Potential Impacts of SCOTUS Decisions On Immigration Policy
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown delves into the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn the 40-year old judicial doctrine of deference to executive agencies that has been defining American administrative law, and the impacts for U.S. immigration policy and...
-
Ep. 173: On the Other Side of The Border – Immigration and Mexico's Incoming President
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown delves into the recent Mexican presidential election and its implications for U.S. immigration policy with three distinguished guests. Joining us are Andrew Selee, President of the Migration Policy Institute, José Díaz Briseño, a...
-
Ep. 172: Rep. Nikki Budzinski on a Recent Bipartisan Visit to the Southern Border
In this week's episode, BPC Associate Director Jack Malde interviews the Director of BPC's Congress Project John Richter and BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown about a recent bipartisan visit to the southern border. The visit, arranged as part of BPC's American Congressional Exchange (ACE)...
-
Ep. 171: Do Legal Pathways Reduce Illegal Entries? And the Economic Impact of Immigration Restrictions
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown talks with Michael Clemens, professor of economics at George Mason University, who has studied the economic causes and effects of migration all over the world. His latest research, based on detailed examination of border crossing...
-
Ep. 170: Reducing Poverty by Making the Most of Existing Migration Pathways
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown and Associate Director Jack Malde chat with Jason Wendle, an expert in migration and labor mobility. We speak about various initiatives that Jason is involved in that facilitate migration from lower-income to higher-income…
more -
Ep. 169: How to Make Immigration Popular Through Demonstrably Beneficial Policies
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown and Senior Policy Analyst Jack Malde chat with Alexander Kustov, an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. We discuss Professor Kustov's research on how we might, or might not, be...
-
Ep. 168: A Legal Services Collaborative for Immigrant New Yorkers
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown and Senior Policy Analyst Jack Malde chat with Camille Mackler, the Founder and Executive Director of Immigrant ARC (I-ARC), a collaborative of over 80 legal service providers in New York State. I-ARC works with community leaders,...
-
Ep. 167: Interview with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Chief of Staff
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown and Senior Policy Analyst Jack Malde chat with Michael D. Lumpkin, the Chief of Staff for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or "ICE". We discuss the missions of ICE, the various challenges facing ICE including budgetary...
-
Ep. 166: Immigration Driving the Economy and Its Relation to Social Security
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown and Senior Policy Analyst Jack Malde discuss the role that recent high levels of immigration have played in driving the economy. They then welcome BPC Associate Director Emerson Sprick to discuss the role that increased immigration...
-
Ep. 165: Can Biden Fix the Border? A Deep Dive
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown and Senior Policy Analyst Jack Malde do a deep dive into the claim, made by several Republicans, that President Biden can use his executive power to solve the border crisis without Congress.
-
Ep. 164: Homelessness in the U.S. – Is Immigration the Issue?
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown and Senior Policy Analyst Jack Malde chat with Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, and Francis Torres, a Senior Policy Analyst in Housing Policy at BPC, about homelessness in the U.S. We cover the scale of...
-
Ep. 163: A (Failed) Bipartisan Border Deal and Barriers to Immigrant Tax Credit Access
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown talks us through the recent failed bipartisan border deal. Then, Theresa and Senior Policy Analyst Jack Malde chat to Policy Analyst Arianna Fano about a new BPC report examining the barriers immigrant families face in the take-up…
more -
Ep. 162: A Rebounding Refugee Resettlement Program
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown chats with Mark Hetfield, President & CEO at HIAS and Claire Holba, an Immigration Policy Fellow at the Niskanen Center, about the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program. Mark tells us about the experience and challenges of refugee...
-
Ep. 161: Border Talks and a Data-Driven Approach to Workforce Shortages
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown runs through the latest negotiations on Capitol Hill for a potential border security deal. If Congress fails to reach a deal, we could see a government shutdown. Then, Theresa and BPC Senior Policy Analyst Jack Malde interview...
-
Ep. 160: Reporting on a Humanitarian Immigration Crisis in a Divided Political Context
In this week's episode, BPC Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown chats with three exceptional national and local immigration reporters to understand what it's like to cover immigration at a time of rising migration, increased humanitarian challenges, and a polarized political climate. Camilo...
-
Ep. 159: Four Distinguished Scholars on a Path Forward for Immigration Reform
In this week's episode, new host Jack Malde chats with four Distinguished Immigration Scholars at Cornell Law School on their new white paper "Immigration Reform: A Path Forward". Stephen Yale-Loehr, Randel Keith Johnson, Charles Kamasaki, and BPC's very own Theresa Cardinal Brown take us through...
-
Ep. 158: The Cost of Green Card Backlogs and Impending Population Decline
In this week's episode, guest host Theresa Cardinal Brown and BPC Senior Policy Analyst Jack Malde discuss BPC's new report which quantifies the tremendous economic benefits on offer if Congress were to act to clear green card backlogs. Then, Theresa and Jack discuss new projections from the…
more -
Ep. 157: Biden's AI Executive Order and The Immigrant Superpower
In this week's episode, host Hanadi Jordan and Theresa Cardinal Brown unpack President Biden's recent Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the efforts of the administration to attract and retain AI talent. Then, we rebroadcast clips from a past interview with economist, veteran and...
-
Ep. 156: Biden Forced to Build Border Wall and a Settlement for Separated Parents
Economic Policy Program Director and former OMB official Rachel Snyderman joins podcast host Hanadi Jordan and Senior Advisor Theresa Cardinal Brown to discuss President Biden's border wall plans and whether he was legally obligated to expand the wall under appropriations allocated in 2019. Then,...
-
Ep. 155: Government Shutdowns and Funding the Immigration System (re-release)
Given recent efforts in Congress to avoid a government shutdown, this episode we are revisiting Episode 141 of This Week in Immigration, where Theresa Cardinal Brown and Laura Hall of BPC Action walk through the federal government's budget and appropriations process, how the immigration system is...
-
Ep. 154: Rio Grande Buoys, NYC Mayor vs. Biden on migrants and work, and Government Shutdown and DHS
In this week's episode, host Hanadi Jordan and Theresa Cardinal Brown discuss the federal government's lawsuit against Texas Governor Greg Abbot over anti-migrant buoys and the growing tensions between New York City Mayor Eric Adams and the Biden administration concerning migrant arrivals. Then,...
-
Ep. 153: The U.S.' Aging Population and Immigration's Vital Mediating Role
Declining birth rates and an aging population present a serious demographic problem for the U.S. with long-term economic consequences. BPC Research Analyst Justis Antonioli and Associate Director of Economic Policy Ben Gitis join the podcast to discuss BPC's latest report, The Demographic...
-
Ep. 152: Legal Immigration Reform - Challenges and Promising Paths Forward
On today's episode, we feature audio from our most recent event on challenges with the current legal immigration system and potential pathways for reform. Moderated by Bloomberg Law's Andrew Kreighbaum, Jon Baselice with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Martin Kim with Asian Americans Advancing...
-
Ep. 151: Rep. Carbajal on the Protect Patriot Parents Act
In this episode we welcome Representative Salud Carbajal to tell us all about his bipartisan bill, the Protect Patriot Parents Act, which would make parents of U.S. military service members eligible for green cards, preventing potential deportations or separations of military families. After…
more -
Episode 150: This Week in Immigration
To mark a very special podcast milestone—our 150th episode—podcast regular Theresa Cardinal Brown sits down with Rep. Maria Salazar (R-FL) to discuss the Dignity Act. Then, Theresa and host Hanadi Jordan reflect on six years of the podcast. Featuring clips from some of our favorite episodes, we...