For our final episode of Season 10, we are excited to welcome Jonathan Blitzer, journalist and staff writer at The New Yorker. Jonathan’s 2024 book, “Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis,” was named a New York Times Top 10 Book of 2024. Jonathan talks about the origins of his interest in journalism and writing about immigration. He reflects on the spellbinding stories that drove his book and the challenges of bringing the historical arc up to the present moment. The vision for the end of the arc was recent policy choices, under both President Trump and former President Biden, that have ushered in the death of asylum for people fleeing violence and seeking safety in the United States.
Joe and Brian share stories that demonstrate the all-out assault on the asylum system. Joe shares the story of Ana and her kids, who fled a terrifying situation of domestic violence and came to seek asylum in the U.S. When Trump took office in 2025, Ana had her appointment for legal entry canceled, so she continues to live in Mexico, hiding in fear. Brian shares the story of Erika, a young mom from Venezuela, who has reached the point of giving up her asylum process in the U.S. because of the campaign of fear from the administration and the horror stories of migrant detention. But as a Venezuelan national without an active passport, she is finding out just how difficult it is to exit the country and avoid the mass detention machine.
Thank you for joining us for the 10th season of the podcast, and blessings as the summer approaches. We will be back with a new season in the Fall of 2026.