Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Chelsea Handler. Welcome to Life Will Be the
Speaker 1: Death of Me, a production of I Heart Radio. Okay,
Speaker 1: Hi everybody, Hello Brandon, Hello again. You weren't at home
Speaker 1: this morning, actually, Brandon, So you're gonna get yourself ready? Yes,
Speaker 1: I did, and here I am, and I already left
Speaker 1: Bernice in the car once. So we're going to do
Speaker 1: a different podcast this week. This is not going to
Speaker 1: be thematically linked with Life Will Be the Death of Me.
Speaker 1: This is about the border and our crisis at the
Speaker 1: border and what's happening to innocent children at the border.
Speaker 1: And I know that I feel so frustrated about not
Speaker 1: doing more, and it feel like I need to be
Speaker 1: more educated about how I can help and how everybody
Speaker 1: can help, and what you can do just to make
Speaker 1: people's lives more humane down there. Since we're not legally
Speaker 1: allowed to donate, right, is that correct? We're not allowed
Speaker 1: to donate, we're not well, it is correct, we're not
Speaker 1: allowed to make monetary donations. We can't we can't send anything.
Speaker 1: So that doesn't seem normal or right. So there are
Speaker 1: ways to go around that, and there are ways to
Speaker 1: help these people. So today we have two uh special
Speaker 1: guests that are here and that have done a lot
Speaker 1: of work on the ground and are very familiar with
Speaker 1: what's going going on at the border, and they work
Speaker 1: with two different organizations. Let's start with you, Shannon, Thank you.
Speaker 1: My name is Shannon Camacho, and I work with the
Speaker 1: Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights, which is a nonprofit organization
Speaker 1: here in Los Angeles that helps community members, specifically immigrant
Speaker 1: community members, access legal services. We also do advocacy UM
Speaker 1: to influence legislation at the local, state, and federal level.
Speaker 1: And then we do organizing and I think that's really
Speaker 1: the cornerstone of our organization is that we organize the
Speaker 1: community UM to fight for the rights and to make
Speaker 1: sure that conditions are better for immigrants in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1: It's called CHURLA your organization for short, right the acronym,
Speaker 1: and are people allowed to donate financially to that absolutely.
Speaker 1: I think it's when people think about the ways to
Speaker 1: help UM. One of the biggest things that folks need,
Speaker 1: for example, people that are in detention are immigration attorneys,
Speaker 1: and so it's very important that we do the fundraising
Speaker 1: and we get donations in order to get more immigration
Speaker 1: attorneys to go out to the detention centers and meet
Speaker 1: with clients. Immigrants are not guaranteed. They're not given an
Speaker 1: immigration attorney by the federal government, unlike the criminal justice
Speaker 1: system for for citizens, and so it's very important that
Speaker 1: we do raise money to have those kinds of services
Speaker 1: available for the community and also to know that you
Speaker 1: can actually help legally aid somebody. I'll reference an article
Speaker 1: that I read this morning that a friend set me
Speaker 1: about actually being able to post bail for an immigrant
Speaker 1: so that they can start the legal process, and you know,
Speaker 1: to make a difference in one person's life, I think
Speaker 1: is what a lot of people are interested in doing.
Speaker 1: If you can't help everybody, just help one person, so
Speaker 1: a lot of us can do that. Let's talk to you.
Speaker 1: Archna Sagala, Archna Sagal, where do you work and what
Speaker 1: do you do? So my name is Archna and I
Speaker 1: work at the National Immigration Law Center. We are one
Speaker 1: of the main organizations working to defend and advance the
Speaker 1: rights of low income immigrants in the United States. In
Speaker 1: terms of what we do, we you do everything from
Speaker 1: suing Donald Trump. We have a huge legal advocacy strategy,
Speaker 1: UM we have we do communications work, we also do advocacy.
Speaker 1: We do loving on the on Capitol Hill, UM, as
Speaker 1: well as some of the work that we're doing right
Speaker 1: now to influence what all of the candidates, UM, the
Speaker 1: presidential candidates are saying about the election and immigration And
Speaker 1: is this a public organization or is it a private organization? Um,
Speaker 1: they're the National Immigration Law Center is a nonprofit organization.
Speaker 1: So okay, And so how do you guys operate that?
Speaker 1: I mean, how do you zoom in on who needs
Speaker 1: your attention the most and what the most pressing cases
Speaker 1: are or is it doesn't even work that way? That's right.
Speaker 1: So we get donations from the incredible public that support
Speaker 1: our body of work, and then we have strategies to
Speaker 1: ensure what's going to be the most effective way to
Speaker 1: ensure that we're fighting for the soul of this country,
Speaker 1: to ensure that we all have the opportunity to thrive
Speaker 1: and to be here and seek opportunity. Yeah. I think
Speaker 1: that the hardest thing to see. I mean, it's all
Speaker 1: very hard to see. And comparing it to concentration camps
Speaker 1: that people are saying, it's not a concentration Kive, you
Speaker 1: can't say that. I don't see why you can't say that. Um,
Speaker 1: what we're doing is traumatizing little children, were traumatizing them
Speaker 1: and that things, and we're turning people into animals. So,
Speaker 1: you know, I know that there's a pressing need for
Speaker 1: people to want to act, but it feels so hopeless
Speaker 1: in a sense, and I know that it's not It
Speaker 1: has to not be hopeless, because there's always something you
Speaker 1: can do that's right. We think that the detention camps
Speaker 1: are absolutely horrible places and they're entirely unnecessary. So we
Speaker 1: at the National Immigration Law Center have an ongoing lawsuit
Speaker 1: to force the government to provide the basics um to
Speaker 1: mostly women and children in these ice centers. But frankly,
Speaker 1: the conversation shouldn't be about toothbrushes. It should be about
Speaker 1: pursuing policies and programs that help immigrants navigate the immigration
Speaker 1: system without putting them in these camps, with putting them
Speaker 1: in jail. And it seems like it may be horrible,
Speaker 1: but there's everyday things that every single person can be
Speaker 1: doing right, and we're gonna get to all of that.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna give you guys a list of places that
Speaker 1: you can get involved in, places you can volunteer, because
Speaker 1: what are the three T s time, talent, and treasure. Right,
Speaker 1: So I have a lot of treasure. I'm willing to
Speaker 1: share that. Some people just have time and some people
Speaker 1: just have talent, and whatever you have to contribute is worthwhile.
Speaker 1: So nothing is insurmountable, I would say, I would say
Speaker 1: that we can always do something a little bit more
Speaker 1: than we're doing. Um, So, tell us about the situation
Speaker 1: of the camps. Why is it so exaggerated? Now? Why
Speaker 1: does Donald Trump keep playing Obama for these camps when
Speaker 1: Obama did never had a baby in a cage. That
Speaker 1: just never happened under any leader in the history, well
Speaker 1: actually not in this country, but okay, for what we're
Speaker 1: talking about, right, So, I think there's a very big
Speaker 1: difference between the Obama administration and the Trump administration. Although
Speaker 1: we do know that during the Obama administration there were
Speaker 1: many deportations of individuals, especially Central American immigrants. That the
Speaker 1: one of the biggest differences during this administration is the
Speaker 1: fact that Trump is not respecting the international right to
Speaker 1: apply for asylum, and that has been an attack since
Speaker 1: the very beginning into thousand and sixteen, not allowing these
Speaker 1: Central American migrants to come request asylum, which is a
Speaker 1: universal right and so many other countries respect that, and
Speaker 1: then instead really making it difficult and putting more and
Speaker 1: more barriers for them to to achieve that asylum, and
Speaker 1: so folks are then sent to detention centers and families
Speaker 1: are held together and for longer periods of time, instead
Speaker 1: of looking into alternatives to detention, and instead of investing
Speaker 1: money in programs to integrate these new arriving and right
Speaker 1: right for these children, he doesn't want them to learn exactly,
Speaker 1: and and that is super intentional. This is this is
Speaker 1: part of a strategy to really deter migration. And that's
Speaker 1: something that we keep at Chaerila. We keep telling the
Speaker 1: community is this is not an accident. This is not
Speaker 1: something that he's trying to achieve just for himself. He's
Speaker 1: really trying to show the rest of the folks that
Speaker 1: are trying to come here, we don't want you, We
Speaker 1: don't want you in this country. And that's something very
Speaker 1: very heartbreaking, um, because so many of these people are
Speaker 1: coming with families literally just looking for a better life,
Speaker 1: literally coming here to escape violence and persecution, and to
Speaker 1: know that this government does not respect that and is
Speaker 1: not trying to help them is just something very unbelievable
Speaker 1: or for people to prematurely be calling these people criminals
Speaker 1: before these people are fighting for their lives. They don't
Speaker 1: deserve to be here because they became here illegally. If
Speaker 1: you came here illegally on that journey, you had no
Speaker 1: other choice. No one one wants to put their children's
Speaker 1: lives at risk, no one. I'm not a mother, and
Speaker 1: I know that I don't want to put any child's
Speaker 1: life at risk. So we've had seven children die, right yeah.
Speaker 1: And and it's the very very difficult thing about that
Speaker 1: is that we know that there have been people that
Speaker 1: are unnamed, unidentified that had died while crossing the border
Speaker 1: in the past recent months, in the years, and and
Speaker 1: folks are dying in the detention centers as well, and
Speaker 1: we don't know, We really just don't know the extent
Speaker 1: to how people are suffering in all these different places
Speaker 1: because there's no transparency from the Department of Home in Security,
Speaker 1: which is the agency that oversees these attention centers. There
Speaker 1: is no effort to highlight the conditions on their part,
Speaker 1: there's no effort to improve the conditions on their part,
Speaker 1: and so there are just people all over the country
Speaker 1: at the southern border, but also all over the country
Speaker 1: that are experiencing absolutely in humane conditions, and that is
Speaker 1: something that we're really trying to highlight through our work.
Speaker 1: Do you guys know what a regular day in the
Speaker 1: life of somebody in one of the insane clint the
Speaker 1: one on the Texan border, right, It's just hell's hell
Speaker 1: on earth. And what's so painful is that everything that
Speaker 1: we're seeing, the images that are that are we're seeing
Speaker 1: daily on the television about the border quote unquote crisis
Speaker 1: was created by Trump. We know that there is zero
Speaker 1: migration net migration from Mexico, so building something like a wall,
Speaker 1: which is incredibly expensive and ineffective, but it also fits
Speaker 1: Trump's narrative, which creates fear and disdain for immigrants, and
Speaker 1: we know that as part of his political theater um,
Speaker 1: Trump has moved a mix of cruelty and inefficiency to
Speaker 1: create a bottleneck of moms and dads and kids coming
Speaker 1: from some America. We are seeking safety in our country,
Speaker 1: and they're seeking asylum, which we know is their legal
Speaker 1: right under both of US law and international law. But
Speaker 1: the reality is the fastest growing and documented migration comes
Speaker 1: from people who overstay their visas UM and we unless
Speaker 1: we look at root causes, which we know is violence
Speaker 1: against women and girls in Central America visa backlogs even
Speaker 1: in our own system, we won't solve the problem. So
Speaker 1: we know that the wall is bad policy. We know
Speaker 1: that these detention centers, these camps are bad policy, and
Speaker 1: he's using these ideas to divide and distract us with
Speaker 1: a super racist narrative that riled up his base. And
Speaker 1: just to clarify, how long have these clamps existed in
Speaker 1: the United States? So since the Department of Homeland Security
Speaker 1: was created in two thousand and three, and I'm not
Speaker 1: sure what the I n S, the Immigration Naturalization Services
Speaker 1: did before that, but ever since two thousand and three,
Speaker 1: the Department of Homeland Security has operated um these kinds
Speaker 1: of detention centers, either at the southern border or in
Speaker 1: the interior of the United States. So I think it's
Speaker 1: important to remind people in the United States that when
Speaker 1: folks are arrested by eyes in inside the country, for
Speaker 1: example in Los Angeles, they are sent to a detention center,
Speaker 1: and the closest detention center here is at a length
Speaker 1: on So these detention centers all operate very similarly. In
Speaker 1: the way that they have horrible conditions, that there's just
Speaker 1: no respect for the folks that are inside, and that
Speaker 1: they're there. The conditions are so horrible that there have
Speaker 1: been numerous reports written about them, and so it's it's
Speaker 1: really important that we talk about those two. Okay, we're
Speaker 1: gonna take a quick break and we'll be right back.
Speaker 1: And I've heard and read that these children have um
Speaker 1: family members and to go to, but are still being
Speaker 1: detained just out of cruelty and and red tape. But
Speaker 1: there was no plan in place to reunite any of
Speaker 1: these kids with their families initially, right that infrastructure that
Speaker 1: was not was non existent. So essentially what this government
Speaker 1: did is they separated families with absolutely no plan to
Speaker 1: reunite them, which is not what Obama did. Right, It's
Speaker 1: just unbel It's such a new level of cruelty and
Speaker 1: and we're now just finding out about that, and it's
Speaker 1: it's just absolutely it's going to take so much work
Speaker 1: to heal the trauma with all the people that have
Speaker 1: experienced that separation and create policies that make it so
Speaker 1: that that never happens again. But it's just unbelievable that
Speaker 1: this was never the plan. It was never the plan
Speaker 1: to reunite these families. This was just something again to
Speaker 1: show the rest of the world that the United States
Speaker 1: is not willing to accept asylum seekers and refugees well
Speaker 1: brown ones. Yes, exactly, And that's a very important point.
Speaker 1: Like our kind of was saying, it's very important to
Speaker 1: highlight the racism of this. This Trump is not having
Speaker 1: this kind of attitude towards European people coming here and
Speaker 1: overseeing their visas. He doesn't highlight those folks. He's highlighting
Speaker 1: specifically Central American immigrants that are coming. And one of
Speaker 1: the reasons why they're coming to the United States is
Speaker 1: because the conditions in their countries are so horrible and
Speaker 1: a lot of that is due to US intervention. So
Speaker 1: a lot of these problems are very connected, and it
Speaker 1: it does not make sense to shun refugees and asylum seekers. Instead,
Speaker 1: it makes sense to integrate folks that are literally running
Speaker 1: for their lives, trying to make a better place for
Speaker 1: themselves in this country. Migration is not going to stop.
Speaker 1: It's not going to get less. They are going to
Speaker 1: be more and more and more people coming to the
Speaker 1: United States, especially given that we have climate change in
Speaker 1: global crisis, We're going to have more people migrating to
Speaker 1: the United States for the conditions, and so we really
Speaker 1: have to as a country, except that our current policies
Speaker 1: are not sufficient enough. We need to change it so
Speaker 1: that we can integrate folks and give them services instead
Speaker 1: of shunning them, to build a fuller society, you know,
Speaker 1: to build a fair and equal society so people feel
Speaker 1: like they can get here the same way all of
Speaker 1: our ancestors got here. So, yes, what I was saying
Speaker 1: before the Trump administration announced last month that they would
Speaker 1: no longer provide legal aid, English classes and recreational programs
Speaker 1: for unaccompanied miners in government custody. So that's one thing.
Speaker 1: And then I wanted to talk a little bit about
Speaker 1: what this Julie Sharon did. Do you know her? Yes,
Speaker 1: I do, so then you know what she did. She
Speaker 1: was looking for ways to contribute, and she had um
Speaker 1: bank account that her grandparents, who were spent years in
Speaker 1: Nazi camps, had left for her, and she decided that
Speaker 1: she wanted to use that money to bail out an
Speaker 1: asylum seeker. So she called a friend who ran a
Speaker 1: volunteer organization called Immigrant Families Together, which are dedicated to
Speaker 1: providing food, clothing, airline tickets and other necessities to migrants
Speaker 1: as they come out of detention. And then she said,
Speaker 1: I need to know I got one person out, and
Speaker 1: she did get one person out, and then a lot
Speaker 1: of people followed suit and did what she did. The
Speaker 1: airline tickets, people can donate their miles. That's right, So
Speaker 1: how did somebody go about doing that right? Immigrant Families
Speaker 1: together as a great organization. We've partnered with them UM
Speaker 1: a couple of times, and I think one way is
Speaker 1: to go on the website to see the different ways
Speaker 1: that you can donate UM. It's very There's also another
Speaker 1: UM organization called Miles for Migrants, and that's another place
Speaker 1: where folks can donate UM their their miles airline miles
Speaker 1: so that people can have plane tickets to their final
Speaker 1: destination in the United States. Additionally, also UM one way
Speaker 1: to really help, and I think Immigrant Families also does
Speaker 1: this is through bond money, collecting enough bond money UM
Speaker 1: so that folks can be bailed out of detention centers.
Speaker 1: And at Cherila we also have a bond fund UM.
Speaker 1: If you go on Cherola dot org you can donate
Speaker 1: to that bond fund, and that directly goes to folks
Speaker 1: that are in detention to try to we try to
Speaker 1: get them bonded out so that their family doesn't have
Speaker 1: to worry about providing that additional money, because it's it's
Speaker 1: one thing to be separated from your family member, but
Speaker 1: it's a whole another thing to lose thousands of dollars
Speaker 1: because they're in detention, and so that just puts an
Speaker 1: enormous long term strain on the family and that's something
Speaker 1: that we really don't want folks to have to deal with,
Speaker 1: So we we really try to raise a lot of
Speaker 1: money for that bond fund for our immigration attorneys. Yes,
Speaker 1: and there are some also local organizations. Um there's Las
Speaker 1: Americas and El Paso and they provide legal services to migrants.
Speaker 1: A lot of these local organizations really need the support.
Speaker 1: So if you're somebody who can donate like a hundred
Speaker 1: dollars or you know, a hundred and fifty dollars anything
Speaker 1: at all, then then it's good to support these local
Speaker 1: agencies because they are on the ground and they know
Speaker 1: what needs immediate attention. And then in Mexico there's one
Speaker 1: called Alterro Lado, which provides legal services in Tijuana, UH
Speaker 1: And they're both small organizations doing incredible work. So this
Speaker 1: is another place you can give. One of the things
Speaker 1: that's so incredible about Julie Sharon's story is that she's
Speaker 1: an everyday person, and everyday people can be heroes. UM.
Speaker 1: That includes giving your time, it includes giving your money,
Speaker 1: it includes um spending a little bit of time, UM
Speaker 1: calling your elected official and demanding that they closed the
Speaker 1: camps up. And I just think that there's a whole
Speaker 1: bunch of things that can be happening. And despite the
Speaker 1: pain and the cruelty, the chaos and the trauma that
Speaker 1: the Trump administration is creating, there's all these bright spots
Speaker 1: that are happening. I mean, look at you, You're having
Speaker 1: us on your having us to have a conversation about immigration.
Speaker 1: And so I just think that there's there's little things
Speaker 1: that you can be doing by donating five dollars. There's
Speaker 1: medium things that you can be doing by going to
Speaker 1: Protect Immigrant Families dot org. And then there's bigger things
Speaker 1: that you can doing, which is to bail out women
Speaker 1: MS kids at a detention centers. Is there a way
Speaker 1: to sponsor an adult? Yes, I think there are a
Speaker 1: couple of different ways, and I would defer maybe if
Speaker 1: you're an attorney to go into more detail. But um,
Speaker 1: we do have folks, for example, through our ELI rd's
Speaker 1: Rapid Response Network that volunteer to sponsor individuals once they're
Speaker 1: released from detention. So that means like giving them a
Speaker 1: place to stay. Um, how does that? So? I think
Speaker 1: it's it's a pretty complicated process, I believe, and they're
Speaker 1: will not complicated, but there does need to be paperwork
Speaker 1: done and you do need to work with the attorney
Speaker 1: for example, that's something that is representing the asylum seeker
Speaker 1: in order to make everything a smooth transition. Um. But
Speaker 1: I recommend if folks are interested in becoming sponsors, definitely
Speaker 1: reaching out to organizations like Cheerlau, CHEERLA, other legal organizations
Speaker 1: that provide support to immigrants and detention. Those attorneys will
Speaker 1: be able to guide you into the process to become
Speaker 1: a sponsor. They will give you every single step. Um.
Speaker 1: And that is a really big need because after someone
Speaker 1: is released from detention, it doesn't it doesn't just end there.
Speaker 1: They need a place to stay, they need support with food,
Speaker 1: with transportation, and so becoming a sponsor is a great
Speaker 1: way to support individuals and I know people personally who
Speaker 1: have done it and it's just such a beautiful thing
Speaker 1: to see. And does milk help with that too? Is
Speaker 1: that something? So the National Immigration Law Center, one of
Speaker 1: the things that we do is UM do. We do
Speaker 1: lots of know your Rights trainings UM, and we make
Speaker 1: sure that everyone UM has an understanding of what their
Speaker 1: rights are. So there are in the words of Mr Rodgers,
Speaker 1: look for the helpers. There are so many opportunities to
Speaker 1: help UM. And so perhaps what might be helpful is
Speaker 1: if we put together a list for you that you
Speaker 1: might be able to share. We're going to link to
Speaker 1: all the organizations that we've discussed on the show UM
Speaker 1: in the podcast or on the podcast and on all platforms.
Speaker 1: So don't worry. I know most of you are driving well.
Speaker 1: I would like to go back and kind of here.
Speaker 1: So once either someone has been detained at the border
Speaker 1: or arrested and sent to a detention center, they're placed
Speaker 1: in the facility for X amount of time. This is
Speaker 1: what I think a lot of people have a hard
Speaker 1: time understanding. Is they're there, how long are they there for?
Speaker 1: What is the process too? So they're applying for asylum
Speaker 1: once they're in the center, and then they have to
Speaker 1: receive bond or pay bond to be released. Correct, Am
Speaker 1: I on the right path? So and and our purposes,
Speaker 1: but I'm not I'm not an immigration attorney, so so
Speaker 1: you so you can help me out then, um. But
Speaker 1: in terms of just very generally, and and we we
Speaker 1: have a lot of immigration attorneys that we work with
Speaker 1: and folks that have actually gone down to Tijuana and
Speaker 1: have sort of like observed the situation. But I think
Speaker 1: what's important to understand is that CBP, which is the
Speaker 1: Customs and Border Patrol, they're actually holding people for longer
Speaker 1: than they should And I supposed to be in a
Speaker 1: cell for like twenty or something like forty two hours
Speaker 1: or seventy hours, whatever it is, they're helding them way
Speaker 1: beyond that that's supposed to be the man maximum amount
Speaker 1: of time they're supposed to be held. And I think
Speaker 1: that's the takeaway. That's the takeaway that folks need to understand,
Speaker 1: is that this agency is not operating the way that
Speaker 1: it should be. And what was what is really painful
Speaker 1: to hear is that this agency, specifically Border Patrol, constantly
Speaker 1: says we need more money we need more money to
Speaker 1: have better conditions. We need more money so we can
Speaker 1: release people on time. The fact is the Department of
Speaker 1: Home and Security gets so much money, billions of dollars
Speaker 1: every year. Their budget has been increasing, and most recently
Speaker 1: they received four point six billion dollars. Congress approved that
Speaker 1: and without any accountability mechanisms or oversight mechanisms, and so
Speaker 1: they're getting so much money, but the money is not
Speaker 1: going into better conditions. And I think that's very important
Speaker 1: for people to realize they're not using that to make
Speaker 1: sure that people are are let out on time. Instead,
Speaker 1: what they're using that for is more space and and
Speaker 1: really just enforcement as well, because that money goes to
Speaker 1: that exactly, and profit and and private companies operate the
Speaker 1: detention centers within the interior of the United States. Atalanta
Speaker 1: was operated by the Geo Group, which is a private company,
Speaker 1: which makes it even harder to get information and even
Speaker 1: harder to have transparency. And that's just something that's literally
Speaker 1: where the money is going. And we really want people
Speaker 1: to understand that, and we we actually like like our
Speaker 1: kind of saying, we do have the opportunity to change that.
Speaker 1: In California, half of California House Democrats voted to give
Speaker 1: four point six billion dollars to the Department of Homeland Security,
Speaker 1: half of California Democrats. And so this is an issue
Speaker 1: on both sides of the aisle, and us as constituents
Speaker 1: really have to urge our members of Congress and the
Speaker 1: Democrats not to support any additional funding, especially when there's
Speaker 1: no accountability attached to it. And that was something very
Speaker 1: very difficult to see is that this this money four
Speaker 1: point six billion dollars essentially can be transferred within the
Speaker 1: Department of Homeland Security to enforcement operations. So recently we
Speaker 1: heard about the threats of ice coming into these cities
Speaker 1: like Los Angeles and arresting hundreds of people. That is
Speaker 1: only possible with the money that they're getting. If we
Speaker 1: really defund the Department of Homeland Security, these kinds of
Speaker 1: massive operations and threats are no longer possible, and that's
Speaker 1: something all of us can do to change. Okay, so
Speaker 1: what I mean, but how how do we defund the DHS? Right,
Speaker 1: so we know that I believe it's twenty four House
Speaker 1: Democrats that voted to give more money. What we're doing
Speaker 1: through our Rapid Response network is We're going to be
Speaker 1: meeting with congressional members throughout the month of August because
Speaker 1: the budget fight happens in August, and we're going to
Speaker 1: have people meet with them, first to thank the folks
Speaker 1: that did not vote for the four points expillience, but
Speaker 1: all then at the same time to keep the people
Speaker 1: who did a acountable and to really explain the education
Speaker 1: needs to be done that this is where the money
Speaker 1: is going. The money is going not to the border,
Speaker 1: not to make sure conditions are better, but instead to
Speaker 1: make enforcement more, to make enforcement larger, and to have
Speaker 1: more detention centers. And so all of us can call
Speaker 1: our members of Congress. There's a list of the people
Speaker 1: that did vote for that four points experience. So I
Speaker 1: urge everybody that's that's listening to really afterwards look up
Speaker 1: to see if your congress member did actually vote for
Speaker 1: the four point six supplemental request and give them a
Speaker 1: contellent that's unacceptable, and explain why it's because that money
Speaker 1: is not going to better conditions. That money is literally
Speaker 1: going to these threats, to these ice rates. And so
Speaker 1: that's something everybody can do. One of the things I
Speaker 1: think is really important is for all of us to
Speaker 1: really educate ourselves. And for so long Americans have seen
Speaker 1: immigration as a domestic policy issue, and I think Donald
Speaker 1: Trump wants us to see the manufactured crisis on the
Speaker 1: border as a domestic policy issue. But I think it's
Speaker 1: really important for us a better understand that it's a
Speaker 1: foreign policy you as we shared UM, and we have
Speaker 1: to understand why people migrate, which is predominantly because of
Speaker 1: climate change, economic inequality, and violence, especially in Central America.
Speaker 1: And so I think that we're not going to address
Speaker 1: root causes of white people migrate through detention camps. We're
Speaker 1: not going to address the root causes through a wall,
Speaker 1: and we're not going to address root causes through raids,
Speaker 1: which is purely performative. And at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: I think we need a broad menu of policies that
Speaker 1: improve the lives of immigrants and deep investment into Central
Speaker 1: America like the Martiall Plan after World War to the
Speaker 1: United States did a huge investment back into Western Europe
Speaker 1: and specifically Germany. And so there are incredible policy opportunities
Speaker 1: to get involved. There's ways to activate UM your own
Speaker 1: community by bailing out folks, by donating in your miles,
Speaker 1: UM to being a helper and um serving as Yeah,
Speaker 1: just serving us, like a really excellent person that doesn't
Speaker 1: perpetuate bad information as well, and racist information as well.
Speaker 1: So I guess the first thing is don't be a racist.
Speaker 1: Trying not to be a racist. Let's everybody start there. Well,
Speaker 1: I think that's what's really hard for someone I've had
Speaker 1: to totally tune out the news is there's so much
Speaker 1: information that you don't know. I'm on the treadmill at
Speaker 1: the gym and there's Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, and you're
Speaker 1: watching their music. The music they put to the news. Now,
Speaker 1: it sounds like a shooting spree. It's so un it's
Speaker 1: like the the the you know, Fox News, Amazon, it's
Speaker 1: all too much. It's you know, it's and it's unpleasant.
Speaker 1: It's just harsh and and it's dark. And there's great
Speaker 1: things happening in the world. There's everything from Julie Sharon
Speaker 1: bailing at immigrants, and there's also wonderful things that are
Speaker 1: happening at the state and local level. Our governor. Governor
Speaker 1: is doing incredible work to improve the lives of of
Speaker 1: immigrants right now. But yeah, and I just I want
Speaker 1: to be I want to be a person. That's part
Speaker 1: of the solution, you know what I mean. I want
Speaker 1: to be doing something and I want to do more.
Speaker 1: And I had a group of friends over last week
Speaker 1: to discuss, you know, like actionable things we can do, boycotts.
Speaker 1: What do we do? Do we boycott Amazon? Do we
Speaker 1: does everybody commit not to buy gas for a day
Speaker 1: until these babies are out of cages and reunited with
Speaker 1: their families? What do we do? What will have an impact?
Speaker 1: And you know what we can't kept coming back to is,
Speaker 1: first of all, how can any mother be okay with
Speaker 1: this happening in your country? That's right, Like we're supposed
Speaker 1: to be looking out for other people's kids, not just
Speaker 1: our own. And then the second part is religion. How
Speaker 1: can they co opt religion and and do this in
Speaker 1: the name of religion and pretend that this is a
Speaker 1: Christian way. This is not Christianity, this isn't any religion.
Speaker 1: And what we were thinking, what has been a lot
Speaker 1: of people have said, had this idea is to you know,
Speaker 1: really magnify that with images, with having all different sorts
Speaker 1: of religious leaders go down to the border, have a
Speaker 1: big event, have a huge concert, and have them set
Speaker 1: standing there with toothbrushes and out and blankets and all
Speaker 1: the things that babies need, not being allowed to go
Speaker 1: in and being denied to help these little innocent children
Speaker 1: who have nothing, have done nothing wrong, um And I
Speaker 1: think that's powerful. So, I mean there's so many organizations
Speaker 1: on the ground. If you're one and you're listening, please
Speaker 1: get in touch with me. Everybody knows how to get
Speaker 1: in touch with me, um be because we want to
Speaker 1: align with other groups that are doing stuff and we
Speaker 1: want to create a big movement or whether it's a
Speaker 1: social media movement. I know a lot of people are
Speaker 1: already working on this, So it would be great to
Speaker 1: join forces with somebody who's got a great idea and
Speaker 1: just needs more amplification because so many people just can't
Speaker 1: move about their day in a normal way because of this. Okay,
Speaker 1: well this sounds like a good time to take a break. Well,
Speaker 1: so we we've covered a lot of ways that people
Speaker 1: can help, and like Chelsea said, well link to all those.
Speaker 1: But is there an outlet or a resource that people
Speaker 1: can use to get the most accurate information because, like
Speaker 1: I said, there's so much that on the television that
Speaker 1: you're watching, or so many tweets that you see, like
Speaker 1: what is a very digestible either website or outlet that
Speaker 1: people can look to for accurate information of what's going
Speaker 1: on at the border camps. Right. So, actually, NILK, the
Speaker 1: National Immigration Law Center, is amazing. It has an amazing
Speaker 1: UM website with a bunch of resources explaining the different
Speaker 1: policy changes and the legal background of all these all
Speaker 1: these policies, and it's just very helpful I think for
Speaker 1: folks to to go on the website and then learn
Speaker 1: a little bit more about the background and what this means.
Speaker 1: What is what is the result of for example, like
Speaker 1: Trump UM restricting asylum, Like recently last week you mentioned
Speaker 1: that he's going to make it even harder for folks
Speaker 1: to apply for asylum. How is that going to affect people?
Speaker 1: What are what are the legal what's the legal background
Speaker 1: for that? I think NEILK is a really good source
Speaker 1: of that. Also, UM the i l r C, which
Speaker 1: is the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, is a very great
Speaker 1: UM resource. I use it all the time when I'm
Speaker 1: trying to really understand policies and UM changes in the law.
Speaker 1: And so I recommend those two specific places absolutely agree.
Speaker 1: And next Twitter handle is at an I ll SEE,
Speaker 1: which stands for the National Immigration Law Center. We have
Speaker 1: a huge team UM that is making sure that everyone
Speaker 1: that wants to be updated and informed can be updated
Speaker 1: and informed. Great, thank you, Brandon. Do you have anything
Speaker 1: else you UM? I think like one of the common
Speaker 1: questions for people who are not politically savvy is how
Speaker 1: do we address what people on both sides of I'll
Speaker 1: say that we need border control, anyone should be able
Speaker 1: to get in. How do we do that appropriately? Like,
Speaker 1: what is the response to that? There are other countries
Speaker 1: that have UM systems where when someone does migrate there,
Speaker 1: it's not a matter of them being detained, but rather
Speaker 1: they are integrated into a case management system where they're
Speaker 1: given the resources and the information to properly live at
Speaker 1: that in in that country, meaning that they're getting information
Speaker 1: on where to get food, where to go to school,
Speaker 1: all of that is being facilitated by case workers. And
Speaker 1: I think that that's something that we should really as
Speaker 1: a country UM dedicate our money too, because instead of
Speaker 1: what we're doing currently is really dehumanizing people that are
Speaker 1: coming here, making them feel that they're not wanted, that
Speaker 1: they shouldn't have come here. And I think the answer
Speaker 1: to that could be to have a very robust case
Speaker 1: management system where we are really trying to provide as
Speaker 1: much social services and information to people that are coming
Speaker 1: here so they can live their lives, they can get
Speaker 1: a foot in the door. Um. And I think that
Speaker 1: is absolutely possible. I think, of course, looking at the
Speaker 1: way things are now, it seems very unlikely that that's
Speaker 1: going to happen sometime in the future. But I think
Speaker 1: us as a country, we really need to start looking
Speaker 1: at putting our money into systems that really integrate people.
Speaker 1: And I think that there are many ways to do it. Um. There.
Speaker 1: I'm sure there are policymakers that have been um fiddling
Speaker 1: with those ideas for a long time. And so I'd
Speaker 1: be interested to see the next presidential candidate, the next
Speaker 1: person that that takes office, really try to employ those
Speaker 1: kinds of strategies of integration into the border. Might be
Speaker 1: interested to see that. And just in terms of the election,
Speaker 1: I really think that because we're in the fight for
Speaker 1: the soul of our country, Americans are really hungry for
Speaker 1: an inclusive vision of our country, and that's rooted in
Speaker 1: our cherished values of belonging and thriving and the opportunity
Speaker 1: to get ahead, and so I'm really excited about But
Speaker 1: people believe that that only belongs to the people that
Speaker 1: are already in this country, and some people believe that
Speaker 1: is only a white person's privilege. That's right, which is
Speaker 1: what we have to organize. You have to get the
Speaker 1: word out and we have to call our members of Congress.
Speaker 1: They work for us, and we have the Donald Trump
Speaker 1: Vata office in November. Well, to your point about the election,
Speaker 1: are there specific candidates that you've seen who how policy
Speaker 1: in place or could have policy in place for the
Speaker 1: immigration issue. Who are those candidates that people should be
Speaker 1: looking to personally? Democrats, Yes, start there, that's a given.
Speaker 1: I think UM. Personally, it's been very great. It's been
Speaker 1: really great to see Julian Gastro really highlight immigration as
Speaker 1: a priority in his policy platform, and I really recommend
Speaker 1: people to go to his website and to look, really
Speaker 1: look and read um the policy platform that he has
Speaker 1: for immigration, because it is all about reducing our dependence
Speaker 1: on detaining folks. It's really about that integration process and
Speaker 1: trying to provide resources to immigrants instead of treating them
Speaker 1: like criminals and trying to make the system so difficult
Speaker 1: for folks to get a foot in the door. So
Speaker 1: I think it's been really great to see him really
Speaker 1: highlight that UM during the debates and UM within his
Speaker 1: his policy plot from so I'm interested to see UM
Speaker 1: where that goes moving forward. I agree, And I also
Speaker 1: think that all the candidates can go further to advance
Speaker 1: a bold vision. At the end of the day, I
Speaker 1: think that Americans really want to be done with this,
Speaker 1: the Trump's vision of distraction and hate, and so we're
Speaker 1: just looking for someone with an alternative. Change is super
Speaker 1: possible when we get loud and we get organized, things change.
Speaker 1: When we organized, we win. And so I just feel
Speaker 1: really strongly that when we come together. So about last summer,
Speaker 1: an organization and called Hand in Hand organized these playdate
Speaker 1: protests where a whole bunch of parents and their kids
Speaker 1: went to ICE offices around the country. There's one in
Speaker 1: downtown l A. And I took my daughter too, and
Speaker 1: then we did another protests on Valentine's Day. She poor kids,
Speaker 1: She's always like, happy Valentine's Day. We're going to a protest.
Speaker 1: I'm like, yes, kid, of yes, we are. It's better
Speaker 1: than celebrating Valence, I think. So I think so, but
Speaker 1: what's fascinating is that Mom's parents, um aunts, UM, they
Speaker 1: came together and it was getting really really we were
Speaker 1: getting loud, and then you see the effects of us
Speaker 1: getting loud, and then Donald Trump will shifted his behavior.
Speaker 1: So I just think that when we get together and
Speaker 1: we organize and we show up, we show up at
Speaker 1: these centers, we show up at our congress members um offices,
Speaker 1: when we show up together UM at the protests, people
Speaker 1: are listening and people really care. And when I mean people,
Speaker 1: I mean the elected officials that we pay. Because right
Speaker 1: now the numbers at around fifty thousand, is that accurate
Speaker 1: for the folks that are detained. It actually fluctuates even
Speaker 1: even above fifty thou um. The last UM average daily
Speaker 1: population that I've heard of was actually fifty four thousand.
Speaker 1: So and the thing is, I think again, this is
Speaker 1: another very specifically we need to highlight, is that DHS
Speaker 1: is not supposed to be detaining that many people. They
Speaker 1: only have money to detain around forty four thousand people.
Speaker 1: That was the money that Congress allocated to them for
Speaker 1: the last fiscal year. And so it just shows that
Speaker 1: this this this agency is not even obeying the rules
Speaker 1: set forth by Congress. It's not um detaining the number
Speaker 1: of people that it should be detaining, it's actually detaining more.
Speaker 1: And so that's right. So that's it. But but that
Speaker 1: goes to their argument for needing more funds, which you said,
Speaker 1: we don't want to give them, right, right. But the
Speaker 1: problem is is that they they're asking for more funds,
Speaker 1: they're getting more detention space, and the conditions are just horrible,
Speaker 1: and they're just and honestly getting worse and worse and worse.
Speaker 1: We're seeing more reports, more pictures, more news about just
Speaker 1: how horrible life is inside those detention centers. So it's
Speaker 1: when they use that argument, it to me, it's just
Speaker 1: a matter of trying to place the blame on something else.
Speaker 1: They're not using this this money to make the conditions
Speaker 1: better or to fix the solution, to really get to
Speaker 1: the core root of the problem and fix the solution
Speaker 1: to make integration possible. Instead, they're just using this as
Speaker 1: a way to get more and more money. One of
Speaker 1: the things that's been terrible is that when everyone is
Speaker 1: paying attention to Donald Trump's Twitter, his minions are quietly
Speaker 1: taking our wrecking ball to the legal, entirely lawful immigration system,
Speaker 1: and it's going almost entirely unnoticed. And so the Trump
Speaker 1: administration is actually in its final stages of changing our
Speaker 1: immigration rules in a way that will affect millions of
Speaker 1: lawfully residents and their and their families by imposing a
Speaker 1: wealth test um to make the road to citizenship impossible
Speaker 1: for anyone that struggles to make ends meet. So the
Speaker 1: story about so many of our families, not all, but
Speaker 1: so many of our families that have come over with
Speaker 1: five dollars in their pocket, Um, that's gonna absolutely change
Speaker 1: if you only have five dollars in your pocket, if
Speaker 1: you're the next entrepreneur, Um, you're going to be a
Speaker 1: black from coming to this country because of this racial
Speaker 1: wealth test. And so this regulation change that's going to
Speaker 1: impact twenty six million people. And we actually think that
Speaker 1: this regulation change, which is called public charge um, but
Speaker 1: it really is the lynchpin in Trump's very xenophobic agenda.
Speaker 1: And he's using this back to our regulatory approach because
Speaker 1: he couldn't get it done in Congress. And so that's
Speaker 1: the one thing I wanted to just like pay attention,
Speaker 1: what can we do about that? I am so excited
Speaker 1: because there's this incredible website that allows you to take
Speaker 1: action called protect Immigrant Families dot org. Okay, well that's
Speaker 1: a good one. And what did they do obviously protecting
Speaker 1: family exactly. That's the best part when a website is
Speaker 1: actually indicative of what we're trying to do. So there's
Speaker 1: opportunities to light when the when the rule is going
Speaker 1: to come out, there's going to be an opportunity to
Speaker 1: really push and let members of Congress know and are
Speaker 1: you allowed to I mean, is that something where you
Speaker 1: can actually go in and help, like one family know
Speaker 1: that you've done it instead of giving to an organization
Speaker 1: that's distributing it at their own accord or is that
Speaker 1: what kind of organization is So protect Immigrant Families as
Speaker 1: a campaign to prestend that rule that's going to impact
Speaker 1: twenty six million people. But the other organizations that we
Speaker 1: talked about, including Immigrant Families to take out, there are
Speaker 1: places that you can go to sponsor a person, so
Speaker 1: to help a individual and then if you won't create
Speaker 1: a kind of a bond and a relationship with them,
Speaker 1: or you can just be like, here's some money. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I would like that. I would like I mean, i'd
Speaker 1: have some someone stay in my house for sure, you're amazing. No,
Speaker 1: but I would. I have a big house, I don't
Speaker 1: have to teach other and I'm never and I'm never there,
Speaker 1: so it's perfect. I mean there's always someone that's did
Speaker 1: you know? I want to say, Kristin Bell. Did you
Speaker 1: see her? She she bailed out an asylum seeker for
Speaker 1: her birthday last year and she was just recently released.
Speaker 1: And so let's get used at up. I want to
Speaker 1: do that. For sure. We're going to have a winter
Speaker 1: birthday my birthday. I don't have to do it for
Speaker 1: my birthday. We could just do it, but sure my
Speaker 1: birthday February. Everyone should know that. Anyway, right Brandon, Right,
Speaker 1: mind's coming up to Umber thirteen. So maybe we'll get
Speaker 1: you a new roommate. Oh yeah, dual birthday gift or
Speaker 1: what for you and for me? Okay, We're going to
Speaker 1: do what we can on our end, and I will
Speaker 1: keep everybody posted if there is some something that you
Speaker 1: can be part of that. I start and thank you, ladies,
Speaker 1: thank you for coming in today. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Life will be the Death of Me as
Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio, visit the i heart radio, app, Apple podcasts,
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