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Jessica Vaughan

Jessica M. Vaughan is Director of Policy Studies for the Center for Immigration Studies. Her area of expertise is immigration policy and operations, covering topics such as visa programs, immigration benefits and immigration enforcement.

Series

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Recent Episodes

Parsing Immigration Policy
Parsing Immigration Policy

How States Can Fight Human Trafficking

As January marks Human Trafficking Prevention Month, the Center for Immigration Studies releases a second podcast interview focused on the subject. This week’s episode of Parsing Immigration Policy features Frank Russo, director of the CPAC Foundation’s Center for Combatting Human Trafficking, who joins our guest host, Jessica Vaughan, director of Policy Studies at the Center for Immigration Studies. The two experts discuss the challenges, initiatives, and policy considerations involved in combatting this issue. Russo brings extensive experience in drafting and passing public safety and criminal justice legislation to his current position, which focuses on assisting states in updating their human trafficking laws. He emphasizes that even though 90 percent of crime in the U.S. is handled at the state and local level, there exists a significant gap in state law when it come to a comprehensive criminal and civil code to specifically address human trafficking.
Guest:
FRFrank Russo
Organization
Center for Immigration Studies

October 2023

Parsing Immigration Policy
Parsing Immigration Policy

Unaccompanied and Unsafe: Biden Policies Facilitate Exploitation and Abuse of Child Migrants

This week’s Parsing Immigration Policy episode raises awareness of a disturbing aspect of the border crisis – a large and increasing number of unaccompanied alien children who are delivered by the government into the hands of labor and sex traffickers. Guest Tara Lee Rodas, a Health and Human Services (HHS) whistleblower who recently testified before Congress, speaks about current U.S. immigration policies and court rulings that lead to the rapid release of unaccompanied minors (UACs) to unvetted sponsors in the U.S. Guest host Jessica Vaughan, the Center’s director of policy studies, and Rodas discuss the flaws in the immigration system and the Biden policies, revealing shocking details about the lax vetting of sponsors who are given custody of unaccompanied alien children without proper background checks or monitoring.
Organization
Center for Immigration Studies

November 2022

Parsing Immigration Policy
Parsing Immigration Policy

Has an Imposter Stolen Your Identity?

Summary Cartels trafficking drugs into the United States rely on individuals using stolen identities to transport and distribute their illegal product. Identity theft, the criminal act of assuming another person's name, address, social security number, and date of birth in order to perpetrate fraud, allows illegal aliens to fraudulently obtain valid state driver's licenses. But more police are being trained to identify these “identity imposters.” This week, James Scott, a retired Massachusetts’ police officer, joins Parsing Immigration Policy to talk about a highly successful program he has developed to detect certain types of ID theft, about which he trains law enforcement officers around the country. He notes that driver's licenses should not automatically be accepted at face value, and has developed protocols and indicators to help law enforcement officers pick up on likely imposters involved in crime.
Guest:
JSJames Scott
Organization
Center for Immigration Studies

August 2022

Parsing Immigration Policy
Parsing Immigration Policy

States Can Push Back on Biden Open Border Policies

Summary Illegal border crossings reached yet another all-time high in apprehensions of illegal border crossers in July, with the year-to-date total of 1.8 million apprehensions exceeding the number encountered in all of FY2021. More importantly, the number of illegal crossers who are released into the country, together with the “gotaways” who avoided arrest, is at an all-time high. Since the Biden administration shows no sign of changing policies to reduce illegal entries, some states have moved to buffer their citizens from the consequences of this influx. Florida has been the most innovated and assertive in marshaling state authorities to address these consequences, including empaneling a statewide grand jury with expansive investigative powers to attack the criminal infrastructure that drives illegal immigration and to hold accountable those who participate in illegal migration-related criminal schemes. Dan Cadman, a senior fellow at the Center and a former senior ICE official, explains the role and powers of this grand jury and the possible impact it may have.
Guest:
DCDan Cadman
Organization
Center for Immigration Studies
Parsing Immigration Policy
Parsing Immigration Policy

Solutions for Ending the Border Crisis and Creating an Effective Process for Removals from the Interior

Summary More than a million migrants have been apprehended and released into the United States under the Biden administration. If got-aways - migrants who successfully evaded Border Patrol – and unaccompanied minors are added, the total is nearly two million. In today’s episode of Parsing Immigration Policy, experts discuss solutions to ending the border crisis and executing an effective interior enforcement plan. Dan Vara, a former District/Chief Legal Counsel for the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Miami Division and a Center board member, shares his experiences with past operations that successfully dealt with mass migration situations, including the record breaking mass exodus of Nicaraguans from their home country to the United States in 1988 and 1989. Vara describes how career personnel created the enforcement processes which then filtered up to the top for approval. The key was detention, judges and attorneys detailed to the border, quick decisions on asylum applications, and corresponding quick deportations.
Guest:
DVDan Vara
Organization
Center for Immigration Studies