Only In America With Ali Noorani

We are back! Thank you for joining us after our brief break.   Not all heroes wear capes, but this one does wear a Captain America costume. Vishavjit Singh is a writer, artist, creator of Sikhtoons, and Sikh Captain America. He uses his powers of building bridges and storytelling to fight intolerance and have difficult conversations to create understanding. He tells us his origin story and about his new animated film, “American Sikh”, an animated short about seeking acceptance in an intolerant world.  You can donate to his Kickstarter here.

This week we look at the symbolism and substance of borders. We’ve covered the US/Mexico border previously, but this time we take a large look at borderlands and what those lines mean for the people living on either side.   Ali speaks with VICE news correspondent David Noriega and Danilo Zak Policy & Advocacy Associate at the Forum.    Check us out on Twitter and Facebook for more great stories from our podcast. 

Immigration reform for Dreamers could be on the horizon, but what does achieving it through budget reconciliation mean for future immigration reform efforts? This week we speak to Bill Kristol director of Defending Democracy Together. Our conversation looks at what the potentially $3.5 trillion budget package would really mean for DACA and other immigration laws as well as the future of bipartisan legislation.   Watch the full version of the live conversation on our Facebook page.  And find out more about reconciliation with a newly released explainer on our website.  

The Olympics are a unique opportunity to celebrate both individual victories and our collective unity.  And this week we went for the gold! Ali speaks with former Olympian and refugee Makorobondo “Dee” Salukombo about learning to love running and his work starting Project Kirotshe a program that pays children in Congo’s school fees as they train and run races throughout Eastern Africa.   Check us out on Twitter and Facebook for more great stories from our podcast.  

As the Olympics approach and we collectively turn our TVs to feats of athleticism, we highlight another way sports brings people together. This week’s episode features the co-founders of the Curbside Cup – a soccer tournament for refugee children in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Terri Sheldon and Jean Bosco Tuyisenge tell the story of how the tournament came together and how soccer led to new possibilities.   Check us out on Twitter and Facebook for more great stories from our podcast.  

Driving through neighborhoods across the country, you could see the effects. Shuttered storefronts. Quiet business districts. Not to mention the stories of families who have scraped by day after day, over the last year. In this episode, we check bring stories of immigrant business owners and workers who have been essential to the response and recovery to COVID-19.   Ali speaks with Ramiro Cavazos, Issaka Kouraogo and Lawrence Yoo for our episode this week.   Check us out on Twitter and Facebook for more great stories to help celebrate Immigrant Heritage Month! 

Our celebration of Immigration Heritage Month continues! And as much as Immigrant Heritage Month is a joyful occasion, it’s also an opportunity to remember how much more work there is to be done.   For part 2, we revisit some of last week’s guests -- and talk to some new ones -- to hear more about their heritage and how it informs their sense of being American. We are joined by guests Jessica Astudillo, Eric Kwak, Farah Larrieux, and Edilsa Lopez.  Check us out on Twitter and Facebook for more great stories to help celebrate Immigrant Heritage Month! 

It’s Immigrant Heritage Month! And for the next two weeks, we’ll be sharing stories that shine a light on the contributions of immigrants – those who came here to work hard, seek opportunities or find protection – and what their experiences and recent research can tell us about the American Identity and American attitudes towards immigration.   We hear this week from, Jessica Astudillo, Emily Ekins, Farah Larrieux, and Edilsa Lopez.   Be sure to check out our Twitter and Facebook for more great stories to help celebrate Immigrant Heritage Month!

For local law enforcement, building trust within their communities is key to doing their jobs. But for many immigrant communities, contact with law enforcement is associated with discrimination, surveillance and a risk of deportation. This week we ask: How can local police build a better relationship with their communities?    In the final stop on our virtual road trip through Utah, we talk to Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown. Chief Brown discusses how his department is building a pathway for a diverse range of young people, including DACA recipients, to get involved in a career in law enforcement.  

In Utah, where the immigrant population has grown significantly in recent decades, federal policies are only the beginning of a conversation that can play out much more meaningfully at the local level. Utah’s changing demographics have presented new challenges – and new opportunities.   This week, Ali speaks with Salt Lake County Mayor and life-long Utahan Jenny Wilson. Mayor Wilson discusses how important it is to foster inclusivity and welcome – and critically, how to put those values into action.

We’re back on our virtual road trip through Utah, taking a look back at what we’ve learned about the state so far -- and also looking ahead. Our first two Utah conversations helped us understand the experiences of immigrants and the history of the Latino community in the state, and our upcoming guests will help us understand how community leaders in Utah are working to advance the conversation around immigration in the state. Dr. Armando Solorzano is an author and associate professor at the University of Utah, where he’s been teaching for 30 years. Bernardo Castro is a Utah Dreamer, BYU graduate and small business owner.    Do you have any questions or thoughts for our upcoming guests? Let us know and your question may be featured in an upcoming episode of Only in America. Let us know: digital@immigrationforum.org Also mentioned in this episode: Our previous interviews with Esmeralda Tovar.  

What happens when a group of evangelical women come together to advocate for refugees? This week we hear from Tess Clarke, Director of We Welcome Refugees, about their effort to gather voices from across the country to urge President Biden to raise the refugee ceiling. Some people sent their voicemails in before this month’s announcement, and some were recorded after. These emotional messages detail why refugees are so important to this country - and why it’s important for people of faith to step up.  

We’re taking a break from Utah this week to address President Biden’s refugee ceiling announcement. Our virtual road -trip will be back soon!   President Biden’s decision this week to raise the refugee ceiling to 62,500 came after a broad range of voices urged the administration to reconsider their initial decision to keep the ceiling at the historically low 15,000 set by President Trump.    Ali speaks with Edafe Okporo, a global gay rights activist and executive director of the RDJ Refugee Shelter in Harlem, New York, about his experience with the US asylum system and how he is trying to help other asylees. We also hear from Jenny Yang, Senior Vice President of Advocacy and Policy at World Relief, about the growing need for refugee resettlement. 

Our virtual road trip around Utah continues as we learn about the unique history and future of Latino communities in the Beehive state, which has seen its Hispanic population grow nearly 26 % between 2010 and 2018 -- which was more than twice as fast as the non-Hispanic white population.   Ali talks to Dr. Armando Solórzano about the rapidly changing demographics of Utah, the history of immigration, and how under the Biden administration, the historical importance of parks and monuments may take on added significance.   

The Beehive State is not often at the forefront of the immigration debate, but as we discuss this week, Utah’s approach to immigration reform has a lot we can learn from.   As many of their geographical neighbors passed notoriously anti-immigrant and racist legislation, Utah’s communities were sending a different kind of message. One of welcome and opportunity, rather than fear and hostility.  This week we are joined by Bernardo Castro, a Utah Dreamer, BYU graduate and small business owner. Bernardo discusses the ever-changing status of DACA, growing up undocumented in a state with a relatively small Latino population and the principles of dignity and humane policies for all.   

A record number of people have been attempting to cross the US-Mexico border this year, many of them children. There are reports of a backlog of thousands of people willing to take a chance. And those turned back usually wait a bit in Mexico and try again. So how does the number of people attempting to cross the border this year compare to previous years? What are these individuals and families facing? And what approaches can we take immediately to start addressing these issues? This week, an on-the-ground look at the U.S.-Mexico border as we speak with Joanna Williams, Executive Director of the Kino Border Initiative, Linda Chavez, a former Reagan White House official and Danilo Zak, Policy & Advocacy Associate at the Forum.

In our upcoming series, we take a virtual road trip around Utah to talk to residents about how immigration impacts Utah and what it's like to be an immigrant in the Beehive State. We’ll be exploring how immigrants contribute to their communities in Utah, how national immigration conversations impact – or don’t impact – reforms in Utah, and where Utahns think we go from here.

Last week’s shooting in Atlanta is part of a tragic rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders across the country. This rise is coupled with the fact that discrimination and hate faced by Asian Americans is often overlooked by press, policymakers and systems. Data collection efforts lag; outreach is stunted.   This week, Ali speaks with John C. Yang, President and Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice. John shares what he’s hearing from organizers and partners on the ground, and how we can use this as a moment of change. 

Ensuring safe, equitable vaccination campaigns is a challenge for communities across the country. But the rollout for an immigrant in New York City can look quite different than it does for one in small-town Iowa. This week, Ali talks to Maria Ramos, a city council member in Storm Lake, Iowa. Maria discusses how her small-but-diverse town has responded to the pandemic, and how she sees her role as a leader in the immigrant community and the town as a whole.

What can the undocumented experience teach us about how to support vulnerable communities through the grief and trauma of the past year? Ali talks to Dr. Luz Garcini, a nonresident fellow at the Center for the United States and Mexico, part of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, about how we build a pipeline that meets immigrant health needs, and how the new administration can help break the cycle of mistrust and fear that leaves immigrants more vulnerable.