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Parsing Immigration Policy

A weekly discussion of immigration policy matters, both immediate and long-term, with researchers from the Center for Immigration Studies and guests.The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit, research organization. Since our founding in 1985 by Otis Graham Jr., we have pursued a single mission – providing immigration policymakers, the academic community, news media, and concerned citizens with reliable information about the social, economic, environmental, security, and fiscal consequences of legal and illegal immigration into the United States. Listen to all episodes of Parsing Immigration Policy at Ricochet.com.

Hosts:
Mark Krikorian
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Episode length: 27m

40 Years After IRCA, What Did We Learn?

Forty years ago this month, Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), a law intended as a grand bargain: legalizing millions of illegal aliens while establishing workplace enforcement to end the economic magnet that encouraged illegal immigration. Spoiler alert: the amnesty happened, the enforcement did not. On this 40th anniversary, Parsing Immigration Policy features a discussion with two former INS officials who dealt firsthand with the law and its aftermath. CIS Executive Director Mark Krikorian moderates the discussion with Dan Cadman, a former INS deputy director of investigations and CIS fellow, and Dan Vara, a former INS/ICE attorney and CIS board member. Among the lessons discussed: IRCA’s legalization was not matched by the resources needed for workplace enforcement. Cadman notes that INS did not add investigative officers or resources after the law was passed, making widespread employer education, audits, and worksite enforcement unrealistic.

Episode length: 34m

‘Worst of the Worst’ or Mass Deportation?

“This is probably the most secure border we’ve had in the United States since the 19th century.” That’s the verdict of Andrew “Art” Arthur, a Center for Immigration Studies scholar and one of two guests on this week’s episode of Parsing Immigration Policy. But with the border secure, what progress is the Trump DHS making in removing the illegal aliens already here, millions of them intentionally let in under the Biden administration? Is ICE engaging in the “mass deportation” that candidate Trump had promised, or are agents focused mainly on arresting the “worst of the worst”, as President Trump has repeatedly said. That’s the question Arthur and fellow panelist Matt O’Brien, deputy executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), address in this episode, which is a session from a recent invitation-only CIS event. Both speakers are veterans of immigration policymaking and enforcement, including as immigration judges. Arthur points out that in the mid-1980s, the average immigration agent arrested 500 aliens per year.

September 2026

Episode length: 37m

How Many Illegal Aliens Are There?

The number of illegal aliens in the United States dropped by about 15 percent, to 13.5 million, during the first year and half of the Trump administration, according to a study by the Center for Immigration Studies. But why do we trust that number? Could it be 30 million? Why not 100 million? In this episode of Parsing Immigration Policy, host Mark Krikorian interviews two Center experts, Research Director Steven Camarota and Resident Scholar Jason Richwine, who explain what the Center’s population estimates are, how they are arrived at, their limitations, and why much higher estimates cannot be correct. The two guests also discuss a second recent report finding a dramatic increase in the number of immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries in the years since 9/11, many of which are either hostile to the U.S. or struggle with powerful terrorist movements. In his closing commentary, Mark Krikorian cites a recent Washington Post article discussing the escalation of third-country deportations to explain why this policy is needed for the integrity of the U.S.

Episode length: 36m

Rebroadcast: Immigration Shifts Political Power

The Trump administration’s proposed changes to the residence criteria for the 2030 Census have brought new attention to a question examined by the Center for Immigration Studies two years ago: How does immigration affect political representation even when immigrants do not vote? In response, the Center is rebroadcasting Parsing Immigration Policy Episode 178, “Immigration Shifts Political Power,” originally released in October 2024. The episode features Steven Camarota, Director of Research, discussing two studies released by the Center examining how immigration affects the distribution of political power. Under the current system, House seats and Electoral College votes are apportioned among the states based on total population. The Census Bureau’s proposed residence criteria for the 2030 Census would exclude illegal immigrants and long-term temporary visitors from the Census count, which is used to apportion seats in the House of Representatives.

Episode length: 50m

Podcast: 9/11 and Immigration - Twenty-Five Years of Lessons and Unfinished Business

Twenty-five years after 9/11, is the United States better prepared to prevent another terrorist attack? This week's podcast is an edited rebroadcast of the Center's panel held to examine that question, discussing the role immigration and border security played in the attacks, the major policy changes that followed, and the national-security challenges that remain. Former U.S. Senator and Attorney General Jeff Sessions introduced the panel and offered brief remarks. As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest at the time of the attacks, Sessions was deeply involved in congressional oversight of immigration and national security in the years following 9/11. The panel at examined how the attacks reshaped U.S. immigration policy, including the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, changes to visa screening and information sharing, and increased attention to border security. The panel also revisited the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission: What was implemented? What was left undone?

Episode length: 40m

What Europe’s Migration Crisis Looks Like from Italy

Italy is increasingly pushing back against Europe’s approach to illegal immigration, including a growing dispute with Germany over who should take responsibility for migrants rescued in the Mediterranean. On this week’s episode of the Center for Immigration Studies’ Parsing Immigration Policy podcast, Francesca Ronchin offers an Italian perspective on the migration pressures facing Europe and the growing frustration with uncontrolled flows. Ronchin, a journalist with RAI-Radiotelevisione Italiana, Italy’s national public broadcaster, focuses on immigration in Europe. She explains the Italian government's view that when German NGOs rescue migrants in the Mediterranean, Germany should take responsibility for them, rather than bringing them to Italy and subsequently asking Italy to take them back. Among the topics discussed: Italy and Germany: The dispute over Mediterranean rescues, asylum responsibility, and whether NGO rescue operations create an incentive for additional migration.

August 2026

Episode length: 31m

Does Immigration Drive Up Housing Costs?

The connection between immigration and housing costs is the subject of this week’s episode of the Center for Immigration Studies’ Parsing Immigration Policy podcast. Jason Richwine, a resident scholar at the Center, discusses his forthcoming study, scheduled for publication this fall in the peer-reviewed journal Cityscape. The large majority of academic studies find a positive relationship between immigration and housing prices, with relatively little debate over the basic nexus. Richwine’s research updates the evidence using 2014 and 2023 data and examines the effects of increased immigration on rents across nearly 1,700 public-use microdata areas (PUMAs). Among the findings: A 1 percentage-point increase in the foreign-born share is associated with approximately a 1.5 percent increase in rents paid by natives, when direct and spillover effects are included. Immigration in one area also raises rents in surrounding areas, creating a ripple effect beyond the community experiencing the initial increase.

Episode length: 32m

J-1 Visa Program: A Cheap Labor Program

Americans visiting beaches, neighborhood pools, summer camps, and resorts this summer are likely to encounter foreign workers filling jobs as lifeguards, ice-cream scoopers, housekeepers, counselors, and restaurant workers. Many may not realize that these workers are in the United States on J-1 exchange visas—a program the State Department promotes as an instrument of cultural exchange and public diplomacy. A new episode of the Center for Immigration Studies podcast Parsing Immigration Policy examines the findings of the recently published CIS report, Exchange Visa Programs Operate Mainly For Cheap Labor, Not Cultural Exchange, with Jessica Vaughan, the Center's director of policy studies. The report finds that the J-1 program has evolved into a major temporary foreign-worker program: About 75 percent of the 275,000 J-1 visas issued in 2025 went to workers, while only about 25 percent went to more traditional exchange programs. Summer Work Travel alone accounted for 105,000 visas, making it the largest J-1 category. Another 32,000 went to foreign camp counselors.

Episode length: 42m

Panel: Who Gets to Be a Citizen?

A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision addressing birthright citizenship has renewed debate over one of the most consequential questions in immigration policy for any nation: Who should be entitled to citizenship? To examine the current state of citizenship policy, especially as it relates to immigration, the International Network for Immigration Research (INIR) held a panel discussion featuring policy experts from the United States, France, Israel, and Hungary, hosted by the Center for Immigration Studies. The panel explored how different democracies define citizenship, the historical development of their laws, and the policy choices that shape them today. While the United States has long interpreted the 14th Amendment to confer citizenship broadly on nearly all children born on U.S. soil, many countries have adopted different approaches. Some place greater emphasis on parental citizenship, while others have modified their laws over time; France, for example, revised its citizenship laws in the 1990s to move away from automatic citizenship at birth.

Episode length: 36m

Spain’s Ceuta Migrant Surge Highlights How Migration Can Be Weaponized

The surge of more than 60,000 migrants into Spain's North African exclave of Ceuta has reignited debate over border security, immigration policy, and the growing use of migration as a geopolitical weapon. In the latest episode of the Parsing Immigration Policy podcast, Fellow in Law and Policy Andrew Arthur, filling in for host Mark Krikorian, welcomes European immigration expert Juan Soto to examine the causes of the crisis and the lessons it holds for the United States. Soto argues that the July 30 mass crossing was more than a spontaneous migration event. Instead, he contends it was a coordinated effort intended to send a political message to Spain, given Morocco’s continued claims to sovereignty over Ceuta, Melilla, and the Canary Islands. He explains how recent Spanish government policies, including a broad legalization program for illegal immigrants, a citizenship expansion law, and a Spanish Supreme Court ruling limiting the immediate return of migrants arriving by sea, contributed to the crisis.

July 2026

Episode length: 38m

Why Immigration Has Become France’s Defining Political Issue

This week’s episode of the Center for Immigration Studies’ “Parsing Immigration Policy” podcast features Nicolas Pouvreau-Monti, co-founder and executive director of the French immigration think tank L'Observatoire de l'Immigration et de la Démographie (OID), discussing how record immigration, failed assimilation, and growing public frustration have made immigration the dominant political issue in France ahead of next year’s presidential election. The discussion examines immigration’s demographic, economic, and cultural impacts on France, as well as the emergence of OID as one of the country’s leading sources of non-partisan immigration research at a time when immigration has become the central issue in French politics. Founded just three years ago by six co-founders concerned about France’s migration crisis, OID was established to fill what Monti describes as a void in public debate by providing reliable data, research, and analysis on immigration.

Episode length: 37m

Immigration Newsmaker: A Conversation with Border Czar Tom Homan

This week's episode of Parsing Immigration Policy is a rebroadcast of a recent installment of the Center's Immigration Newsmaker series featuring the White House Border Czar Tom Homan. In the interview hosted by Center Executive Director Mark Krikorian, Homan discusses the recent pause in traffic stops, the administration's enforcement priorities, recent record-setting ICE arrests, sanctuary jurisdictions, and the future of mass deportations. A highlight of the conversation is Homan's proposal to dramatically expand I-9 inspections by creating a centralized operation staffed by contractors to conduct large-scale audits. Rather than relying exclusively on armed Homeland Security Investigations agents to review employment records, Homan argues that contractors could identify criminal and administrative violations and refer those cases to investigators — freeing agents to focus on criminal investigations and enforcement operations.

Episode length: 40m

Immigration Courts and Judges: Understanding the System Behind America’s Immigration Crisis

Immigration courts are frequently in the headlines, with stories about massive backlogs, judicial turnover, and widely varying asylum approval rates. But how does the immigration court system actually work, and why has it become one of the biggest bottlenecks in immigration enforcement? In the latest episode of the Center for Immigration Studies’ Parsing Immigration Policy podcast, Fellow in Law and Policy Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge, provides a comprehensive tutorial on the immigration court system, explaining its history, structure, and the challenges it faces. Arthur discusses: Why immigration judges are Department of Justice attorneys—not life-tenured Article III judges—and how the immigration courts and Board of Immigration Appeals are organized. How removal proceedings work and why a final removal order is required before most aliens in the interior can be deported. How the surge in immigration cases during the Biden administration drove the court backlog to historic levels.

Episode length: 37m

Australia’s Immigration Debate Is Reshaping Its Politics

In the latest episode of the Parsing Immigration Policy podcast, Executive Director Mark Krikorian speaks with Jordan Knight, founder of Migration Watch Australia, about how record immigration levels are reshaping Australia’s politics and public debate. After experiencing net negative migration during the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia saw housing costs stabilize and pressure on public services ease. But in 2023, the government admitted an unprecedented 737,000 migrants into a nation of just 27 million people. Knight explains how the resulting strain on housing affordability, homelessness, infrastructure, and public services has transformed immigration into one of Australia's defining political issues. The discussion explores the rapid rise of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party, which has gained momentum by advocating for significantly lower immigration levels and questioning Australia’s decades-long embrace of multiculturalism over assimilation.

Episode length: 39m

CIS Experts Break Down Three Major Supreme Court Immigration Decisions

In the latest episode of the Parsing Immigration Policy podcast, Fellow in Law and Policy Andrew Arthur and Senior Legal Fellow George Fishman examine three landmark Supreme Court immigration decisions issued over the past two weeks and discuss their implications. "Two of these decisions went in the administration's favor, but the birthright citizenship was a big loss. Anyone who calls this a politicized Court should review all three and see for themselves." Temporary Protected Status (TPS): Why the Court ruled that Congress meant what it put into statute—no judicial review of TPS designations—and what the decision means for the Trump administration, and why Congress—not the courts—must ultimately reform a program that has evolved beyond its original "temporary" purpose. Asylum at the Border: How the Court confirmed that a foreign national only becomes an "alien" eligible to apply for asylum once they have entered the United States.

June 2026

Episode length: 47m

How Immigration Enforcement Became a National Security Tool

The latest episode of the Center for Immigration Studies’ Parsing Immigration Policy podcast features Dan Vara, a veteran of both the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), discussing how immigration enforcement evolved into a critical component of national security, counterterrorism, and criminal investigations and enforcement. Drawing on more than two decades of service as a lawyer with INS and ICE, Vara, a Center board member, recounts pivotal cases that demonstrated the growing value of immigration authorities in combating drug trafficking, organized crime, espionage, terrorism, and human rights violators. The conversation highlights numerous real-world examples in which immigration authorities proved essential to broader public safety and national security missions, illustrating how the role of immigration enforcement expanded dramatically over the course of Vara’s career.

Episode length: 41m

Immigration, Labor, and African Americans

The latest episode of the Center for Immigration Studies’ Parsing Immigration Policy podcast features a wide-ranging conversation with Frank Morris Sr., who recently retired from the Center's Board of Directors after 38 years of service. Morris – a former Foreign Service officer, Executive Director of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, and Dean of Graduate Studies at Morgan State University – joined CIS Executive Director Mark Krikorian to discuss how immigration policy has evolved over the decades and why its impact on American workers, particularly African Americans, first drew him to the Center. Morris was invited to join the CIS board after publishing research examining immigration’s effects on black workers, an issue he believes remains relevant today. Among the topics discussed: Why tight labor markets have historically provided the greatest economic opportunities for African Americans. How immigration policy affects wages, employment, and labor market competition. The changing relationship between the Democratic Party and working-class voters.

Episode length: 34m

Immigration Newsmaker: A Conversation with CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott

At a recent Immigration Newsmaker hosted by the Center for Immigration Studies, Rodney Scott, Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, joined Center Executive Director Mark Krikorian for an in-depth conversation on the challenges facing CBP and the administration’s broader enforcement strategy. The discussion examined current efforts to secure both the southern and northern borders, combat human smuggling and cartel activity, expand border wall system construction, strengthen coordination with ICE, and facilitate lawful trade and travel while protecting national security. Commissioner Scott oversees the front lines of America’s border and national security operations. Under the leadership of DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, CBP has taken on an increasingly central role in implementing the administration’s immigration and border security agenda, making Commissioner Scott one of the most consequential voices in immigration policy today. Host Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.

Episode length: 36m

USCIS Shift on Green Card Processing

The latest episode of the Center for Immigration Studies podcast examines a recent U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) memo emphasizing that adjustment of status - the process allowing certain aliens, either temporary visa holders or unlawfully present, who are eligible for permanent residence to obtain it without leaving the United States - is a discretionary benefit and not a guaranteed alternative to consular processing abroad. The discussion between Senior Legal Fellow George Fishman and Director of Policy Studies Jessica Vaughan is accompanied by a new report and a policy blog on the subject. Among the key findings: Congress created adjustment of status under section 245 of the new Immigration and Nationality Act in 1952 largely to eliminate the need for temporary visa holders already in the United States to travel outside the U.S. for immigrant visa processing to permanent status.

May 2026

Episode length: 44m

‘Briefcase Immigration Enforcement’ and Policies That Encourage Self-Deportation

The latest episode of the Center for Immigration Studies podcast examines how the federal government can reduce illegal immigration through administrative, financial, and workplace enforcement measures designed to encourage self-deportation rather than relying primarily on large-scale arrest operations. Andrew Arthur, the Center’s fellow in law and policy, joins George Fishman, the Center’s senior legal fellow, to discuss what they describe as “briefcase immigration enforcement” — the wide range of legal and regulatory tools available to federal agencies that can make it more difficult for illegal aliens to remain and work in the United States indefinitely. The discussion follows recent Center blogs analyzing President Trump’s Executive Order, “Restoring Integrity to America’s Financial System,” which directs federal agencies to examine how banking regulations, lending practices, and identification requirements may facilitate illegal immigration and unlawful employment.

Episode length: 51m

Birthright Citizenship Analysis Ahead of Supreme Court Decision

As the nation awaits a potentially landmark Supreme Court decision on birthright citizenship, the latest episode of Parsing Immigration Policy features renowned legal scholar Richard Epstein for an in-depth discussion of the constitutional, historical, and legal arguments surrounding the issue. Epstein, emeritus professor at the New York University School of Law and the University of Chicago Law School, senior fellow at the Civitas Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, and author of the new book The Myth of Birthright Citizenship, recently filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case Trump v. Barbara. In the brief, Epstein argues that the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment does not automatically confer citizenship on children born in the United States to illegal aliens. During the conversation, Epstein explains that understanding the issue requires careful textual and historical analysis of the Fourteenth Amendment, particularly the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”

Episode length: 44m

Work Permits and Executive Authority in the Immigration System

A new episode of the Center for Immigration Studies’ podcast, Parsing Immigration Policy, examines the issuing of employment authorization documents (EADs), the use of executive discretion in granting work permits, and a proposed regulation affecting asylum applicants. The episode features CIS Director of Regulatory Affairs and Policy Elizabeth Jacobs and Senior Legal Fellow George Fishman discussing how millions of immigrants, including illegal aliens, parole recipients, TPS beneficiaries, DACA recipients, asylum applicants, and temporary visa holders, have received work permits without Congress’s authorization. According to CIS estimates, roughly 15 million individuals currently possess work authorization and 4.3 million illegal aliens may be eligible for work permits. As a result, USCIS reports that it faces more than 1.7 million pending EAD applications.

Episode length: 40m

Travel Restrictions Under the Trump Administration

The Center for Immigration Studies has released a new episode of its weekly podcast analyzing the Trump administration’s use of travel restrictions and visa limitations affecting dozens of countries. In the episode, Jessica Vaughan, CIS’s Director of Policy Studies, explains that the administration has implemented a series of “more expansive and more targeted” travel restrictions than seen in his first administration – affecting 75 countries through a combination of full bans, partial restrictions, and category-specific limitations. “These policies are not one-size-fits-all,” Vaughan notes. “They are tailored to specific concerns, including national security risks, weak identity verification systems, and high visa overstay rates, some exceeding 50 percent in certain categories. The restrictions are subject to periodic review.” Additionally, the podcast examines a January 2026 State Department pause on immigrant visa issuance for certain countries under public charge considerations, affecting nations with high rates of welfare use among immigrants.

April 2026

Episode length: 34m

Immigration Newsmaker Podcast: A Conversation with Andrew Veprek

At a recent Immigration Newsmaker hosted by the Center for Immigration Studies, Andrew Veprek, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), described a complete reorientation of the bureau, shifting it from a humanitarian assistance agency toward implementing U.S. enforcement and return priorities. The discussion offered a look at how immigration policy is increasingly being implemented through diplomacy as well as enforcement. In a discussion moderated by Mark Krikorian, Veprek said PRM is now organized around three basic functions: Remigration and Returns. Veprek outlined the work of PRM’s Office of Remigration, including securing cooperation from foreign governments to facilitate the repatriation of nationals ordered removed, arranging third-country transfers when return to home countries is not possible, and supporting voluntary return efforts through Project Homecoming. International Migration and Refugee System Reform. Veprek discussed reforms to the global refugee and asylum system, and U.S.
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