Only In America With Ali Noorani

This week, actor Diane Guerrero, from "Orange is the New Black" and "Jane the Virgin", talks with Ali about her latest book, and the story of her immigrant parents' deportation when she was just 14. Diane has already experienced the pain and the challenges facing separated children, and draws parallels with the migrant children who've been separated at the southern border by the Trump Administration. Her book highlights the long-term mental damage the experience inflicted on her, and now on many others. 

This week, Ali chats with Sarah Quezada, immigration rights advocate and author of "Love Undocumented - Risking Trust in a Fearful World". And Ali examines the long-term folly of America turning it's back on the world refugee crisis.   

                                 Only in America could a small boy from South Korea, who fled the war in Vietnam, grow up to be elected to a position that Thomas Jefferson and George Washington once held. Ali chats with Mark Keam, who represents Virginia's 35th District in the House of Delegates, about bringing his immigrant experience to modern-day American democracy.  

This week, Ali meets leading sociologist Dr. Manuel Pastor of the University of Southern California. His latest book is "State of Resistance - What California’s Dizzying Descent and Remarkable Resurgence Mean for America’s Future". He tells Ali that the future of American success can be found in the way California has transformed it's politics, work, environment and immigration policies since the turbulent 1980's.     

This week, Ali mourns the passing of Senator John McCain, a strong advocate of "American Exceptionalism." And he chats with another  Vietnam veteran - Former Idaho Chief Justice Jim Jones, who is championing the rights of American immigrants and migrants.   

This week, Ali meets author Gena Thomas, who with her husband fostered a 4-year-old undocumented girl from Honduras. Gena talks about putting Christianity into action - starting with tortillas, and ending with "Shalom".  

This week, Ali talks with Ronald Brownstein, Atlantic Media's Editorial Director for Strategic Partnerships and a veteran political journalist. They talk baseball, America's changing demographics, and the prospects for the upcoming elections amid the controversy surrounding the Trump administration's immigration policies.  

This week Ali chats with three authors whose work captures the contemporary conversation surrounding immigration and American identity.  Michelle Warren Dr. Sandro Galea Jorge Ramos

This week, New York City Councilman Carlos Menchaca tells Ali Noorani how he got elected - by listening to the needs of the diverse communities he now serves, and empowering them to become active citizens in the democratic process. Plus, an update on the separated migrant children still without their parents. 

  Ali talks with Wendy Young, President and CEO of Kids In Need of Defense (KIND) about the thousands of refugee children separated from their parents at the southern border.  And later, how the World Cup recharged the immigration debate in Europe.     

Mark Prosser, the Chief of Police in Storm Lake, IA talks about how the crime rate there has fallen as the town's immigrant population grows. He tells Ali about his policing strategy, how the town has embraced new residents, and how President Trump's policies may make people fearful of reporting crimes for fear of deportation. 

This week, Ali talks with author Laura Wides-Muñoz, about her book, "The Making of a Dream: How a Group of Young Undocumented Immigrants Helped Change What it Means to be American." And, as hundreds of migrant children remain separated from their parents, the number of deportations of naturalized citizens is increasing.  

  This week's Independence Day show features 16-year-old Fez Zafar, who brought Des Moines High School students together for a series of Iftar dinners; Hector Barajas, a deported U.S. Army veteran who's back in California after 14 years in exile; and Vartan Gregorian, President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.  

This week, Ali talks with DACA recipient Esmeralda Tovar-Contreras. She's the mother of a 19-month-old baby and her fiance is in the U.S. Army. As thousands of Dreamers are threatened with deportation by the Trump administration's decision to rescind DACA, Esmeralda hasn't moved back in to the shadows. Instead, she debated the issue in heated exchanges on late-night TV with a group of voters who oppose DACA.  Plus, we deconstruct the ruling behind President Trump's ban on travel from 7 mostly Muslim-majority countries.

  Kathy Tran arrived as a refugee from Vietnam in 1980 as a child. Now she's a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. On World Refugee Day, Ali chats with Kathy about her desperate flight from war, her run for high office, and how she's living proof of the reality of the American Dream. 

In this special edition, the incredible story of the FBI informant who helped to break up an MS-13 gang in Boston, MA. Ali talks to journalist Michele McPhee who tells the story in next week's edition of Newsweek. They discuss how the cooperation of Boston's immigrant community with law enforcement plays a vital role in fighting crime, despite the renewed threats of deportation under the Trump Administration's policies.   

Ali visits the storied town of Storm Lake, Iowa, which proudly has one of the most diverse populations in rural America, and chats with the new Mayor, Mike Porsch. And later, the crackdown on asylum-seekers at the southern border, and the ongoing divisions in Congress over DACA. 

A Texas judge speaks out as hundreds of migrant children, separated from their parents who fled violence in Central and South America, are sent to detention centers near the southern US border. And Ali chats with Jenny Yang and Matt Soerens from World Relief about how to unite the evangelical movement around immigration.    

Ali talks to three amazing women who are working both in public and behind the scenes to re-imagine the future for immigrants in the United States. Left to Right:- Gaby Pacheco, DACA recipient, and leader of TheDream.US Karen Tumlin, Legal Director of the National Immigration Law Center Sayu Bhojwani, President of the New American Leaders Project  

This week, Ali talks with Raquel Castañeda-López, the first Latina to be elected to the Detroit City Council. Raquel tells of her childhood struggles born and raised in a diverse but poverty-stricken section of the city, and how the local residents gave her the courage to run for office. She also lays out her vision for the resurgence of Detroit, with policies which embrace the city's diversity.