In June, President Biden issued an executive order restricting asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. The new restriction was supported by many prominent newspaper columnists—few of whom offered alternative solutions or examined the order’s impact on human rights, says Adam Isacson, a longtime expert on Latin America and U.S. immigration policy. “The Biden administration made a choice to restrict asylum at the border,” he says, “instead of adding asylum judges and officers to fix the asylum system.”

At the very least, Isacson says, journalists such as the New York Times’ Nikolas Kristof should acknowledge policy alternatives that would preserve protections for asylum seekers. “None of these columns talks about making the U.S. asylum system viable, and faster, adjusting it to a new era of historic worldwide migration. They don’t even mention it as an option to be discarded,” Isacson wrote recently.

In this podcast, we discuss solutions to fix the asylum system, and Isacson shares insights from a recent trip to Colombia and the impact that organized crime has on migration routes, including the Darién Gap. We also talk about migration at the border as extreme summer temperatures take hold.

Isacson directs the Defense Oversight Program for the nonprofit Washington Office on Latin America, in Washington, DC. He also contributes to WOLA’s Migration and Border Security program, which tracks the impact that policies have on migrants’ human rights, including their access to asylum.

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It’s tough enough to get Americans to realize that if Donald Trump wins in November, it would most likely mean the end of representative democracy in the United States. Even tougher, however, is to make Americans aware that even if Trump doesn’t win, many authoritarian policy changes are already being rolled out in states like Texas and Alabama. So says Heidi Beirich, an expert on far-right movements in the United States and Europe. Leading the charge, Beirich says, is the Heritage Foundation, a longtime conservative think tank that has steered to the extreme right in recent years. In April 2022, the foundation and a coalition of think tanks and organizations released a 900-plus page blueprint, called Project 2025, for radically restructuring the U.S. government by integrating it with Christian nationalism. Beirich, cofounder of the Global Project against Hate and Extremism, discusses Project 2025 and the Far Right’s efforts to convert the United States into an authoritarian, Christian nationalist country. Beirich also discusses how the antidemocratic movement in the United States mirrors other movements globally, which are on the rise and target immigrants, people of color, women, and LGBTQ communities. “We are very close to losing our system of government,” she warns.

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The U.S.-Mexico border is the most talked about region in this year’s presidential election. So far, most of the media coverage is about which candidate scored the most political points during his appearance in a border community, and who is the toughest on border security. But what does real security look like from the perspective of a border community? If the Rio Grande dries up because of climate change and overuse, what good is a 30-foot wall, especially when, as in the case of El Paso, much of your access to the river is south of that wall?

In this podcast, Todd and Melissa get into real border issues that remain unaddressed in this year’s presidential election. And they talk about some of the biggest stories at the U.S.-Mexico border—including a new investigation, Smoke and Lies, which Melissa worked on with news outlets Lighthouse Reports, La Verdad in Ciudad Juárez, and El Paso Matters in Texas, as well as Todd’s reporting on climate change and water scarcity in the borderlands. We hope you’ll give it a listen and leave a comment on what you think are the most pressing issues facing the borderlands.

*Also, become a founding member today for $150 (which comes with two additional paid subscriptions) and you’ll get a limited edition Border Chronicle tote bag. They’re going fast! (They also come in black).

Support independent journalism from the U.S.-Mexico border. Become a paid subscriber today for just $6 a month or $60 a year.