Immigration Nerds

Vivian Zavataro is the Director of the John and Geraldine Lilley Museum of Art at the University of Nevada. She specializes in contemporary art and mediation, traveling the world working on installations, museums, and galleries that teach onlookers the value of Diversity, inclusion, and creativity in the work she presents. Joined by Lead Researcher, Luke Bianco. We discuss: How the En Medio exhibi...

Shikha Dalmia is a Fellow with the Mercatus Center’s Program on Pluralism and Civil Exchange. She's a former Senior Analyst at Reason Foundation and writing columnist for The Week, and writing contributor for the Reason Magazine, Bloomberg view USA Today , and The New York Times. We discuss: Her professional background as it relates to immigration and populist authoritarianism A portrait of the st...

UC Berkeley School of Law professor Jennifer Chacon joins Immigration Nerds. Her area of research focuses primarily on immigration, constitutional law, and criminal law and procedure. Note : Unfortunately there are moments of audio crackling during the interview that was not detected at the moment of recording. We find the content still very valuable however we apologies for any listening inconven...

Managing Director of Immigration and Cross-Border Policy at Bipartisan Policy Center, Theresa Cardinal Brown joins. We discuss: How migration patterns changed as countries open up Biden Administration policy proposal: Addressing a new blueprint to address root causes of Central American migration Current events: The immigration effects of Troops being pulled out of Afghanistan, how SIV backlogs th...

Due to recent events in Afghanistan, this episode is a timely one to revisit. Released June 24th, 2021. Noah Coburn is an Anthropologist Professor at Bennington College and author of “ Bazaar Politics: Power and Pottery in an Afghan Market Town” . He focuses on political structures and violence in the Middle East and Central Asia. We discuss: o   His background and how he first beca...

Since the release of the first edition in 1990,  Kurzban's Immigration Law Sourcebook  has been the go-to legal reference on U.S. immigration law. It cuts out lengthy explanations to provide busy legal professionals with what they need and want—a comprehensive, authoritative, and concise analysis of a complicated area of law. The author of that book, Ira Kurzban, joins to share his immig...

Former University of Mexico Anthropology professor,  New York Times contributor, and author of the “Deep Midwest” Bob Leonard joins. We discuss: Rural America economic growth problem The career opportunity for immigrants Skills needed Bridging social and cultural differences

We have one of the most innovative and civic-minded foodies in DC Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Immigrant Food, PETER SCHECHTER, and TÉA IVANOVIC. We discuss: D.C.’s first cause-casual restaurant Immigration lectures and classes held at the restaurant How working on former political campaigns and launching non-profits informed their community-led spirit to combine advocacy with food Ho...

Ahilan T. Arulanantham joins Immigration Nerds. Ahilan is a Professor and Co-Director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law and former Senior Counsel at the ACLU in Los Angeles. Co-hosted by Lead Researcher, Luke Bianco. We discuss: TPS litigation and Supreme Court arguments Nadarajah v. Gonzales, the first Ninth Circuit case establishing limits on the government’s pow...

Can Biden pass immigration reform? History says it will be tough Brookings Institution Director of the Center for Effective Public Management Elaine C. Kamarck joins the podcast. She is an expert on American electoral politics, government innovation, and reform in the United States, focusing her research on the presidential nomination system and American politics. We discuss: Why comprehensive imm...

Erickson Immigration Group's Senior Attorney Zara Najam, and Kingsley Napley's Associate Attorney Rizwana Quazi join. We discuss: Lockdown in the UK Its effects on Business travel now and in the future post-Brexit July 1st transition Right-to-work changes for UK employers.  Settled Status options for employers/employees

Noah Coburn is an Anthropologist Professor at Bennington College and author of “ Bazaar Politics: Power and Pottery in an Afghan Market Town” . He focuses on political structures and violence in the Middle East and Central Asia. We discuss: o   His background and how he first became interested in political structures and violence in the Middle East and Central Asia o  &nbs...

Pooja Vora recently graduated with a Masters in Public Policy from Georgetown University, McCourt School of Public Policy where she pursued her interests in immigration, education, housing, and racial equity issues. Pooja is a founding member and past president of the McCourt Migration and Refugee Policy Initiative whose mission centers around highlighting and promoting evidence-based migrati...

Born in Costa Rica, Chef Byron Gomez migrated to the United States when he was 8 years old. His interest in culinary arts started at a young age and after several years cooking on Long Island, he set his sights on New York City. With a mission to learn from some of the country’s best, he honed his skills under culinary luminaries like Daniel Boulud, Ronny Emborg, Gavin Kaysen, and Daniel Humm.&nbs...

Alessandra La Vaccara , Program Manager of the Missing Migrants Project from ICMP joins the podcast. Dr. La Vaccara has been working on missing persons-related issues since 2012. Prior to joining ICMP, she worked for the ICRC, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the European Commission, and the Italian Senate. Dr. La Vacc...

Steve Yale-Loehr has practiced immigration law for over 35 years. He is co-author of Immigration Law and Procedure, the leading 21-volume treatise on U.S. immigration law. He also teaches immigration and asylum law at Cornell Law School as a Professor of Immigration Practice and is of counsel at Miller Mayer in Ithaca, New York. He also founded and was the original executive director of Invest In...

Charles Wheeler is Director of Training and Legal Support for Catholic Legal Immigration Network and Author of the most seminal books addressing the inner workings and legal nuances surrounding CSPA, “AILA's Focus on the Child Status Protection Act". We discuss the major provisional changes he witnessed over the years covering CSPA.

Javier Miranda, Co-author of the National Bureau of Economic Research's paper "Immigration and Entrepreneurship in the United States" joins Immigration Nerds. Co-authors: Pierre Azoulay ,  Benjamin Jones ,  J. Daniel Kim   Immigration can expand labor supply and create greater competition for native-born workers. But immigrants may also start new firms, expanding labor demand. His p...

Since the release of the first edition in 1990,  Kurzban's Immigration Law Sourcebook  has been the go-to legal reference on U.S. immigration law. It cuts out lengthy explanations to provide busy legal professionals with what they need and want—comprehensive, authoritative, and concise analysis of a complicated area of law. The author of that book, Ira Kurzban, joins to share his immigra...

The year 2020 marked a sudden break in mobility across international borders. The COVID-19 pandemic decimated tourism and business travel; cut the lion’s share of seasonal and temporary labor migration; temporarily ground refugee resettlement efforts to a halt; and held up the processing of visas of all kinds, from those for international students to family reunification. Yet even as the overall p...

Ron Wada is Senior Counsel for TafaPolsky & Smith LLP and is a nationally recognized expert in US immigration law. He is the co-editor of the leading national immigration law treatise Immigration Law and Procedure and is the author of AILA’s Focus on EB2 & EB3 Degree Equivalency, a standard desk-top reference book for immigration attorneys nationwide. He explains the journey to writing one...

Director of Immigration Advocacy at Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, Megan Horn Essaheb joins. We discuss: Reuniting Families Act provisions and how others can help. #StopAsianHate campaign and recent events in Atlanta. Covid-19’s role in the rise of hostility towards Asian Americans and how AAJC is countering the surge in discrimination/xenophobia.

On March 12th, USCIS announced it would consider reopening select nonimmigrant petitions that were previously denied based upon three rescinded policy memos. Jon Wasden Partner at Wasden Banias LLC discusses how his team litigated the memos that were later rescinded by USCIS on March 12th, and shares his experience with taking Trump-era policies to task in court.

Today we have a special guest, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Executive Director of Immigration Policy, Jon Baselice. We explore key legislative and regulatory policies the chamber is advocating for in immigration, and how immigration law firms can help assist. We address the current status, future outlook, and any challenges found along the way.

Today is a short recap of immigration news from the past week. Namely the suspension of Proclamation 10014, and who that will affect, and also address the reasons why the administration has reverted the naturalization test back to its 2008 standard and what that means for you.