logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2024
54m 47s

Why is the Immigration System Broken? Jo...

JUSTIN KEMPF
About this episode

Written into the DNA of American immigration policy, which we tend to regard as a kind of domestic policy - and which in many ways it is - has to do with US foreign policy.

Jonathan Blitzer

This episode was made in partnership with the Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy.

Proudly sponsored by the Kellogg Institute for International Studies. Learn more at https://kellogg.nd.edu

Access Episodes Ad-Free on Patreon

Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox.

Read Justin Kempf's essay "The Revolution Will Be Podcasted."

A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.

Jonathan Blitzer is a staff writer at The New Yorker. He won a 2017 National Award for Education Reporting for “American Studies,” a story about an underground school for undocumented immigrants. His writing and reporting have also appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, The Atavist, Oxford American, and The Nation. He is an Emerson Fellow at New America. His most recent book is Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis.

Key Highlights

  • Introduction - 0:20
  • Personal Experiences - 3:12
  • Immigration and Foreign Policy - 12:25
  • Migration as a Crisis - 31:20
  • Bukele and El Salvador Today - 46:26

Key Links

Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis by Jonathan Blitzer

“Do I Have to Come Here Injured or Dead?” by Jonathan Blitzer in The New Yorker

Follow Jonathan Blitzer on X @JonathanBlitzer

Democracy Paradox Podcast

Rachel Schwartz on How Guatemala Rose Up Against Democratic Backsliding

Joseph Wright and Abel Escribà-Folch on Migration’s Potential to Topple Dictatorships

More Episodes from the Podcast

More Information

Apes of the State created all Music

Email the show at jkempf@democracyparadox.com

Follow on Twitter @DemParadox, Facebook, Instagram @democracyparadoxpodcast

100 Books on Democracy

Support the show
Up next
Jun 2024
The Last Episode. Elizabeth Saunders on How Democracies Wage War and Make Peace
We've often compared democratic national security and autocratic security making in terms of autocratic elites and democratic voters. My argument is not that all democracies are the same, but I do think we ought to be thinking about autocratic elites and democratic elites and vot ... Show More
52m 51s
Jun 2024
When Democracy Breaks: Final Thoughts with Archon Fung, David Moss and Arne Westad
I think we've seen democracies can be unstable. Autocracies are even more unstable.David MossMade in partnership with the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and InnovationGet your copy of When Democracy Breaks or read it open access.Access Episodes Ad-Free on PatreonMake a one- ... Show More
53m 1s
May 2024
When Democracy Breaks: Scott Mainwaring on Argentina
March 24th, 1976 is the coup and it unleashes wild celebrations in establishment Argentina and almost no opposition.... Of course, this unleashed the most ruthless dictatorship in Argentina's history and in recent South American history as well.Scott MainwaringMade in partnership ... Show More
52m 1s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2025
Oligarchy
Is Trump’s presidential reign turning the US into an oligarchy? Or did the US fall into oligarchic rule many years ago? In episode 127 of Overthink, David and Ellie dive into what an oligarchy looks like, the dangers of a country’s power being in the hands of the wealthy few, and ... Show More
54m 3s
Jul 2024
Rethinking Democracy Ep. 3: Economic Conditions and Support for Democracy with Daron Acemoglu and Tamara Cofman Wittes
About the series: This is a critical year for the future of democracy. Half the world’s population will go to the polls in 2024, at a time when citizens in America and across the globe are losing faith in democratic institutions. We often view the rollback of democracy and threat ... Show More
1h 2m
Jul 2023
The Case Against Democracy - Curtis Yarvin
Curtis Yarvin, also known by the pen name Mencius Moldbug, is an American blogger. He is known, along with philosopher Nick Land, for founding the anti-egalitarian and anti-democratic philosophical movement known as the Dark Enlightenment or neoreactionary movement (NRx). He argu ... Show More
1h 11m
Dec 2024
Mukulika Banerjee, "Cultivating Democracy: Politics and Citizenship in Agrarian India" (Oxford UP, 2021)
Cultivating Democracy: Politics and Citizenship in Agrarian India (Oxford UP, 2021) by Dr. Mukulika Banerjee offers a groundbreaking rethinking of democracy, moving beyond its institutional frameworks to focus on its lived, everyday dimensions. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in ... Show More
1h 7m
Sep 2024
Governing democracy, the internet, and boardrooms
with @NoahRFeldman, @ahall_research, @rhhackettWelcome to web3 with a16z. I'm Robert Hackett and today we have a special episode about governance in many forms — from nation states to corporate boards to internet services and beyond.Our special guests are Noah Feldman, constituti ... Show More
1h 35m
Dec 2024
Alexander Guerrero, "Lottocracy: Democracy Without Elections" (Oxford UP, 2024)
Elections loom large in our everyday understanding of democracy. Yet we also acknowledge that our familiar electoral apparatus is questionable from a democratic point of view. Very few citizens have access to the kinds of resources that could enable them to stand for election; co ... Show More
1h 9m
Oct 2024
Democracy & Economic Inequality w/ Philosopher ARASH ABIZADEH - Highlights
“There is a tremendous tension between healthy democracy and deep economic inequalities. I don't think that, in the long run, democracies can survive in a healthy way unless we address the problem of economic inequalities. If we have individuals who are living day to day, on the ... Show More
11m 8s
Sep 2024
Introducing...What's Wrong With Democracy?
Introducing...What's Wrong With Democracy? By the end of this year, countries making up half the world’s population will have held elections. But not all of them will have been free and fair. In ‘What’s Wrong with Democracy?’ Professor Ben Ansell of Oxford University will, with t ... Show More
1m 43s
May 2023
Claire Provost and Matt Kennard, "Silent Coup: How Corporations Overthrew Democracy" (Bloomsbury, 2023)
As European empires crumbled in the 20th century, the power structures that had dominated the world for centuries were up for renegotiation. Yet instead of a rebirth for democracy, what emerged was a silent coup – namely, the unstoppable rise of global corporate power.Exposing th ... Show More
44m 32s