October 24, 2023 • 47 mins
The "Immigration issue" may be the key thing that determines all the control of power next November in America. And ALEXA going all MAGA loco in millions of households isn't helping either. Obviously we need to SLAP some light on how we can help navigate this often misunderstood and vital issue. So we chose to get someone in who could help us understand it like we were musicians who didnt know what we were talking about.
Enter our delightful interview today, Liz Cannon, a seasoned immigration attorney who graces our show with her great takes on why most of our leaders don't actually want to help solve this issue and instead how WE can help each other fix this. You're going to want to listen in as Liz dissects the silliness of US immigration law, clearing up misconceptions about undocumented immigrants, and she helps explain to us what the F a 601A waiver process is. :)
I mean...do you know the difference between those who enter the US with a visa and those who cross the border without documentation? How many people overstay their visas vs cross at the borders? With Liz's guidance, we limp through this complex terrain together, shedding light on the impact of changing immigration laws under different administrations and she also touches on the deeper, class-based issues contributing to the current immigration predicament and exposing how these factors play into the exploitation of immigrants. We round off with Liz by discussing the power of individual advocacy. Reminding ourselves that even a simple phone call can influence immigration policy. Liz generously shares resources for listeners interested in supporting immigration reform.
We also debut our new segment the "Wish Factor (AKA I wish a MF would!)", where we imagine dealing with difficult situations, that you kinda wish would happen. We leave you with another humorous TOURROR STORY from the road (Halloween edition) to lighten the mood.
So jump in with us as we try and SLAP some sense into the ridiculous and insanely important issue of immigration today.
and as Liz said on our episode, sometimes, calling your representatives and demand to be heard on action to help our broken immigration system.
FIND AND CONTACT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS HERE
https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials
and if you know who your representative is but you are unable to contact them using their contact form, the Clerk of the House maintains addresses and phone numbers of all House members and Committees, or you may call (202) 224-3121 for the U.S. House switchboard operator.
and here are some recommended resources how you can also help
You can donate to the National Immigrant Justice Center
You can make a secure online donation at www.immigrantjustice.org/donate.
You can reach out to or support the Southern Poverty Law Center
https://www.splcenter.org/
love yourself and someone else,
STP
https://amzn.to/4eYmbAV
https://www.compassionkind.org/
SLAP the Power is written and produced by Rick Barrio Dill (@rickbarriodill) and Aja Nikiya (@compassioncurator). Associate Producer Bri Coorey (@bri_beats). Audio and Video engineering and studio facilities provided by SLAP Studios LA (@SLAPStudiosLA) with distribution through our collective home for progress in art and media, SLAP the Network (@SLAPtheNetwork).
If you have ideas for a show you want to hear or see, or you would like to be a featured guest artist on our show, please email us at info@slapthepower.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Biden has not done half of what he promised
immigration attorneys andimmigration attorney
organizations that he said hewould do.
There's so many small changeshe could make that would benefit
so many families.
He has not done that.
However, there has been amassive change in at least
allowing people withinimmigration to do their job.
(00:20):
So under the Trumpadministration, they lost over a
third of their workers in theDepartment of State and over a
quarter of their workers inUSAIS, who all just either quit
or retired early because theyweren't able to do their job.
Because the administration keptsaying things like you can't
say yes to anything and or youcan't accept any argument and or
(00:45):
you can't accept any of thesepetitions.
So, for example, daca, daca.
Trump just basically said youknow we're going to call this
illegal and we're going to makeit, so you have to.
Just you can file it, but noone's going to look at it.
So nobody has gotten DACA foryears.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
All right, all right, yo yo yo.
Welcome to slap the power.
The world may not need anotherpodcast baby.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
But a show do need that slap.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
That's right.
Welcome to slap the power, theshow where we try to cut things
up in one of three bins.
We usually put them in climate,democracy or rights, and today
is no exception.
We're going to be going intorights with an immigration
lawyer because I have a feelingand we were talking about this
offline that immigration isgoing to be the key issue in a
(01:48):
year from now.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
It's also interesting how rights affects policies,
which affects climate changewhich affects rights.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Yeah, democracy, rights, climate.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Exactly I mean it all be tied together, and our
expert for this particularsubject was really great about
breaking down nuances aboutimmigration that I didn't know
existed.
So I think that we need to haveepisodes that break down some
of these nuances, because it'sreally hard to get the nuanced
(02:22):
information that's behind a lotof these issues through
traditional media, like it'salmost non-existent.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Exactly that's why we created the show.
That's facts, that's facts, andso on the show today we're
going to have Liz Cannon.
She's an immigration lawyer, somake sure to stick around for
that.
We're also going to be doingTorah stories.
What Halloween edition.
That's right, halloween edition.
And we've got a new segmentthat we're going to be doing.
What's it called?
Maya?
Speaker 3 (02:47):
This segment is for all of you that have something I
like to call the wish factor,and that is you wish a mother
fucker would.
So what are things that, if youwere Peter Griffith, what would
grind your gears?
What is the thing that you wisha person would do?
Because that is the thing thatwill send you to the brink and
(03:10):
really make you show them true.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Aggravated colors, that's right, what are those
things?
That's the fuck around and findout.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
The answer to that, so yeah, and shout out to Cedric
, the Entertainer, because he isthe one that I got the wish
factor from.
If you've ever watched Kings ofComedy, he discusses the wish
factor in detail, that's right.
By wishing a mother fuckerwould take his seats, because
that's me right there, sir.
That's four and five, yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Four and five.
But first, one of the things wethere's so many things that
come up in the news nowadayswhere you're like, man, I want
to pick it, I don't want to findout more, but I saw this and I
was like we have to kind of gointo this.
Apparently, alexa, who won the2020 election, alexa, the voice
assistant from Amazon that's inan estimated of 70 million homes
(03:55):
, has been falsely telling usersthat the 2020 election was
rigged.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Now.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Now it says that this was out of the Washington Post,
so that's wild.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Ok, so what in the Jeff Bezos is going on Like who
at Amazon?
Amazonian scam is only was likelet's, let's, just, let's just
do this right here Like what'shappening.
No, that no.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
I feel misinformation is going to be.
It's the issue that is now onour doorstep.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
But if misinformation is now that systemic right.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Do we do exactly exactly when it's been in Alexis
in millions and millions ofhomes.
It says here in the WashingtonPost that the 2020 races were
and this is what Alexa would say, quote notorious for many
incidents of irregularities andindications pointing to
electoral fraud taking place inmajor metro centers.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
According, to Alexa Now.
Who did they say wasresponsible for this mishap?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
So here's the other thing it says Alexa contended
that Trump won Pennsylvania.
Citing an Alexa answerscontributor.
Get out of here Stop.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
So you're about to be the new Wikipedia, right.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Stop and false and saying false shit.
This is the problem.
So I feel like, pay attentionto where you get your news from,
and that means podcast too,because you know sometimes you
know we could be wrong.
We'd be the first one to tellyou if we're wrong, but you know
what If we are wrong?
Speaker 3 (05:17):
check us.
I'm not, I'm not sitting uphere trying to be miss right all
the time.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
No.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
I'm trying to be misinformed, not informed but,
MISS informed.
So or you know, ms, if youNasty, but we are a community
based podcast here, so we arereliant upon what the public has
to say, and if there'ssomething that we didn't get
(05:43):
right, please let me know.
I'm not her, I am not trying tobe the person who's dying on
the hill of.
I have to be right all the time.
In fact, I feel like that'swhat's killing the nation, yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Yeah, no, and straight up.
I feel like we're going to needeach other.
We're going to need to betalking about things that you
know most, everybody.
If you ask them, they'll say,oh well, the media, this the
media that they don't like it.
Well, we are the new forms ofmedia.
We if the election in 2016 wasone by 70,000 votes in three
(06:13):
different states and if in 2020,it was run one by 40,000 votes
in two states, the electoralcollege is a fucking problem and
the system that we have is setup in a way that it.
We need to figure our waysthrough this together and we
need to circumvent this sort ofsystemic system problem that
(06:35):
makes our democracy not function, and one of the things that is
going to be at the core of thefight for whether we become an
authoritarian nation or whetherwe actually stay a democratic or
try to be a democratic one, isgoing to be making sure that we
got our facts right, Make surewe got our information right,
because we are.
People nowadays say we're intwo different silos information
(06:55):
silos and that is true becauseof algorithms and our cell
phones and the Internet hasbroken our brains, but it
doesn't mean we can't seek outand find our overton windows
together.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
It means that we need even more outlets that give us
an opportunity to seek out, thatgive us an opportunity to not
just be sound bites at eachother, but really give us an
opportunity to understandnuanced information and to be
able to disseminate it in a waythat everyone can understand.
I was looking at just even theway I talk sometimes and a
(07:29):
friend of mine pointed out thatshe said you use a lot of big
words all the time.
And I'm not aware that I use alot of big words all the time.
I use it because I don't thinkof them as big words.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Don't be facetious.
You know that's not even big.
But you get my point.
Yeah, sure, I get your point.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
But so I've been looking at even just how to use
language in a way that is moreencompassing, because I
definitely can.
You know, to my friend's point,I'm not trying to be alienating
, right, but the climate hasbeen so polarizing, especially
(08:09):
against the educated, that theminute you say something that
could be construed as higherechelon.
Thinking you thinking becomeselitist.
Yeah and there I feel likethat's been done on purpose.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
It 100%.
Yeah, like when did sciencebecome the devil?
When did actually?
Speaker 3 (08:31):
books become the devil right there is.
I was listening.
I was looking at SNL the otherday and they were saying that in
Alabama there's this.
This guy is trying to have abook come out and because of
their ban on the word gay, hisbook can't come out because his
last name is gay.
Is that where we're at that?
Speaker 2 (08:52):
is so fucking stupid that that is just good, god.
I mean, I mean, we also have atheme that I stole from the
great and all-powerful JohnLovett, but it is.
Everything right now isridiculously important and
insanely stupid all at the sametime At the same god damn time,
and that's one of them, can you?
Speaker 3 (09:08):
not listen to Marvin Gaye in the state of Alabama,
because I did.
They take out all of MarvinGaye's music like sir.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
I mean.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
But this man cannot have his book in the library
because his last name is gay.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Get the fuck out of it.
I'm not and I was just like wow.
That's why we do what we do.
That's why we started thisshows, because that this kind of
ridiculous stuff.
We need to live because it'swowsers, yeah, and it's giving
wow it is giving wow factor andone of the things that you and I
kind of talked about, wherewe're.
We have this situation where ifwe, we, we understand that
Really there's one side ofgovernment in our country right
(09:46):
now that has professed that theydon't want to govern and and
and they're Explicit about it,and the other side is, is trying
, but in a kind of a brokensystem.
And I feel like immigration isthe one issue where, if there is
a weak spot for, you know, the,the side that is at least
trying to govern, it is, youknow there is a, there's a
(10:09):
nuanced to your point, problemswith immigration.
We haven't been able to solve alot of this stuff there's and
everything, and so, you know,nationalism and fascism kind of
are disguised as patriotismnowadays and a lot of propaganda
that's thrown around.
But what is real and what ispolitical theater is something
that I know.
(10:30):
Oh, for now and over the courseof next year, we're gonna try
and be getting that and that'swhy I'm so glad that we got a
chance to interview our guesttoday.
You know, liz, liz can, with agreat last name, cannon, I feel
like you know you're coming in,you're coming in.
You know, hot, hot guns loaded,so make sure, coming up after
coming up next is gonna be ourinterview with Liz can, and so
check it out.
(10:50):
It was definitely incrediblyinformative.
It sort of enlightened me on onthe fact that Tons of people
come through Canada who knew andyou know, yeah, so all kinds of
things.
So make sure to stay tuned.
We'll be right back with Lizcannon, okay, joining us for the
interview today.
You know, maya and I believethat we were talking kind of
(11:12):
off-camera, and immigration issort of one of those things that
it's a tough thing to talkabout nowadays Because it's you
know, sometimes it's a boringsubject, sometimes it's
something that people just feellike there's not a solution for,
and I know Maya and I were kindof talking it feels like it's
it might be the sole issue thatcan scare our country towards
autocracy in 24.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
I've always thought this, because maybe this is just
me as a black woman, but everytime I have seen immigration
brought up in the media,especially in a political sphere
, it seems like it's really codefor Xenophobia and white
supremacy.
Yeah, so my issue with the wayimmigration is discussed is that
(11:54):
we're not looking at all of itselements and it's still being
criminalized in weird ways thatstill champion White supremacy
and overall racism.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Yeah, yeah, and I mean what is real, almost
anymore because of what's likewhat you said and how it's
getting synthesized through themedia and what's sort of kind of
Heartless political theater,like sending immigrants to
Martha's vineyard or anythingelse.
On drug, why is the war ondrugs still a tool that's used
against a sensible solution?
And so thankfully, thankfullyjoining us today Is Liz cannon.
(12:28):
She's an immigration attorneyspecializing in I-601 waivers.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Liz, thank you so much for taking the time with us
today and helping us break thisdown so we can understand it
better and also Thank you fordoing it at our dinner, at your
dinner time, because we couldcasually hear you and your fam
Having dining times and a.
I just think that's reallysweet.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
It's a door.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
I didn't grow up with like that kind of thing, so
whenever I see like familiesdoing that.
I'm like.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Welcome.
Welcome, liz.
Thank you for coming.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
Okay, so pardon your girls ignorance and maybe for
the rest of the world.
But what is a six?
Speaker 4 (13:02):
Yeah, what's?
Speaker 1 (13:02):
there is a lot of minutiae in immigration law and
and most people who are notimmigration attorneys or who not
are actively involved in a 601process are never gonna know
what it is.
But it is one of those waysthat I explained to people who
are somewhat or veryanti-immigrant why their stance
(13:22):
may be, coming from a placethat's a little bit not in line
with what reality is forimmigrants.
So a 601 is necessary forpeople who are in the United
States without permission andhave some kind of reason that
they're not immediately allowedto get their green card through
their spouse, and that isactually a lot of people,
(13:43):
including anybody who camethrough the border without
inspection.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
How many?
How many people you think onaverage?
Speaker 1 (13:49):
you can easily get the stats from the Department of
State and USCIS on the amountof people who apply for 601s,
and I think it usually runsaround 300,000 people a year but
of the people that apply, howmany of those?
Speaker 2 (14:02):
how many people don't apply?
Speaker 1 (14:03):
So let's back up a little bit, let's talk about.
Let's talk about please illegalVersus whatever else.
So let's start with that.
So most of us immigrationattorneys prefer the term
Undocumented immigrant, andthere's a reason for that.
It's actually not illegal to beinside the United States
without permission it's.
(14:24):
It's a it's not a criminal act.
So if you don't have thepaperwork to show that you are
here with permission, thenyou're undocumented and you're
kind of unable to do almostanything.
A lot of people think people whoare undocumented can access
things like Welfare.
They can't.
They don't have the paperworkto get it, etc.
(14:44):
Etc.
But people who come across theborder or Come in with a visa
and then overstay that visa areboth undocumented immigrants.
There's a difference betweenthe two in immigration law.
However, if I come in to theUnited States as a tourist and I
just decide to stay, I am anundocumented immigrant, and
(15:07):
that's probably about One thirdor more of our undocumented
immigrants are people who camehere on a visa and just stayed.
They can get married to a UScitizen and automatically apply
for a green card.
If they have a child over theage of 21, that child can apply
for a green card.
It's pretty straightforward.
(15:27):
It's not that complicated.
However, if that person cameacross either the Canadian or
the Mexican border, and I dohave a lot of people who came
across the Canadian border withno inspection and then they get
married to a United Statescitizen at a later date.
They can't just get a greencard, they have to go through a
601 process.
And that's basically saying tothe government Please forgive
(15:49):
the fact that I am here withoutdocumentation and allow me to do
this and there's a level ofhardship you have to show to the
US citizen spouse.
It's not a guaranteed processand this is just one of those
interesting ways that weseparate immigrants that doesn't
really make very much sense if,if this spouse was a reality
(16:14):
housewife, would that make iteasier to get approved?
I have represented people whoare on a reality show.
I can't tell you who.
I have Represented people whosespouse worked for high-level
CIA.
I have worked for People whoseUS citizen spouse were the head
(16:37):
of one department of the DEA.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
Yeah, oh my god, they had to go through the same dang
hoops, yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Wild.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
What's your biggest challenge, Then?
As far as if you'respecializing in the 601s, what
do you find is your sort ofbiggest hurdle on a daily basis?
Speaker 1 (16:59):
So my biggest hurdle isn't even the 601s.
I'm an expert at them, I'm verygood at them.
I tend to win them.
My issue is sometimes with thegovernment and its inability to
understand that it's saying thatsomeone is inadmissible.
That's the term we use to sayyou can't get a green card when
they actually are.
That's my biggest hurdle, and Ihave to fight, sometimes pretty
(17:24):
hard, including going tofederal court and saying hey,
you guys are making a massivemistake.
This guy isn't eveninadmissible, and usually that's
about a criminal issue.
Sometimes it's not, though.
I had a client who, when he wentto his interview in El Salvador
, he made a mistake about a datewhen he was talking, and you're
(17:45):
not allowed to have animmigration attorney with you
when you go to these interviews,which I actually think is
technically against the law, butwe won't go into that.
So he's going to hisimmigration interview in the
consulate in El Salvador and hemessed up a date and they said
oh, so you were in the UnitedStates twice and he said, no, no
, I wasn't.
They said, but you just saidyou were.
And because he messed up oneday, we had to do this huge
(18:08):
rigmarole.
They didn't accept all theevidence showing he'd only been
in the states once.
We had this, all this evidenceabout him running his own
dentistry practice, so he wasn'tin the United States when he
messed up and said that date andI had to go to federal court to
sort it out.
It was so stupid.
Those are the kinds of thingsthat just drive me crazy,
because this is the big problemwith immigration and this is one
of the things I wish morepeople understood is it is a
(18:31):
huge bureaucracy and even as anattorney, I don't have access to
talk to the people who can makethe decisions.
I have to go through slow,terrible paperwork processes to
try to reach people most of thetime.
Every now and then I have acontact in some higher level
(18:53):
that I can reach out to, butit's pretty rare, and so much of
the time I'm actually forced tofile something in federal court
for something super, supersimple which, I gotta tell you,
waste our tax dollars.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
There's a lot of ways , so what you're saying is that
you're bogged down in my newdepartment government Okay, got
it.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
So can.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
I ask a question.
Yeah what has been the changebetween the Biden administration
from the Trump administrationand how is that affected?
First I'll say what you do.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Biden has not done half of what he promised
immigration attorneys andimmigration attorney
organizations that he said hewould do.
There's so many small changeshe could make that would benefit
so many families.
He has not done that.
However, there has been amassive change in at least
allowing people withinimmigration to do their job.
(19:44):
So under the Trumpadministration, they lost over a
third of their workers in theDepartment of State and over a
quarter of their workers inUSAIS, who all just either quit
or retired early because theyweren't able to do their job.
Because the administration keptsaying things like you're, you
can't say yes to anything and oryou can't accept any argument
(20:09):
and or you can't accept any ofthese petitions.
So, for example, daca, daca.
Trump just basically said youknow we're gonna call this
illegal and we're gonna make it,so you have to.
Just, you can file it, but noone's gonna look at it.
So nobody has gotten DACA foryears.
Wow, that is also something theBiden administration could have
(20:29):
possibly worked with Congressto get codified.
That hasn't happened.
That's harder to do.
That's not an easy thing forhim to do.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yeah, yeah, I wanted to.
I wanted to kind of to touchback on the things like because
we do have two problems, likeyou were saying.
One of them is you can't talkto the people in charge, and
another one seems to be likeit's legislative.
And if it's legislative, whenwe have an obstructionist house,
then there's something that apresident can promise.
But just the ways that are, theways that our Constitution,
(20:58):
ways, our government works, isgoing to make that not possible,
and that's not necessarily onon Biden, in so much as it seems
like you can't get.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Oh, of course, but there are because of the way
that administrative offices areset up.
Underneath the president, thereactually is a lot of power that
he has as the executive ofthese administrative offices,
and there was a hundred pointsthat Aila, the American
Immigration and LegalAssociation, handed the Biden
administration, saying these area hundred points of things you
(21:28):
could do the very first dayyou're in office to make life
easier for us as lawyers and forour clients, and to date I
think he's done 24 of them andare the?
Speaker 3 (21:38):
are the okay.
So the reason why he hasn'texecuted these hundred point
these okay.
Is the reason behind him notexecuting these hundred points
partisan issue or could he havejust with a clear no.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
These are.
These are small things that youcan say by having the agency
make a policy change.
It's not a change in the law.
So so in immigration law we'vegot different levels.
We've got congressional law andthen Congress delegates
responsibility for certaindetails of that law and how to
(22:14):
implement it to the actualagency.
The agency answers to thegovernment and the government
can say to the agency, forexample, something Obama did
that was fantastic.
The process I do is called the601.
Until the Obama administration,my clients were forced to leave
the United States and file their601 outside of the United
(22:36):
States and wait for it to bedecided, and that could take
somewhere between six months andtwo years.
They were separated from theirfamily that entire time waiting
for the answer on their 601.
Many people couldn't do that.
They couldn't afford to beseparated from their family for
two years.
The Obama administration veryeasily implemented a change in
the regulation it was very easyto do, took only a couple months
(22:58):
where he said we can do thisinside the United States if your
only inadmissibility is havingcome across the border and being
here longer than a year, andthat's called a 601A and that
was super easy to implement, andit made it so much.
There.
Hundreds of thousands offamilies could now benefit from
a waiver that they it was tooscary to take on beforehand, and
(23:19):
or financially impossible.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
So what?
And then what happened?
So the Trump administrationcame in and obviously their
mission was to gut governmentfrom the inside, and you know
there was a giant brain drainthat went on.
But so what did they do?
Speaker 1 (23:30):
That program still exists but because of the loss
of workers, it has ground to avery slow crawl and 601As that
were once being approved inabout four months, are now
taking the current processingtime, I believe, is 29 months.
Yeah, and that's and that'smostly, I will say, due to the
(23:51):
fact that so many people leftthe USCIS, left immigration,
because they were like I can'twork in these, I can't work in
this environment, I can't workin these circumstances, I'm out.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
Well, it also seems like that's a growing trend,
because if we're looking at justthe state of the US right now,
you've got auto workers onstrike, actors on strike,
teachers are leaving in droves.
It seems like these, you know,people that were instrumental in
making things go forward haveleft in droves because they're
being treated terribly, they'renot being paid properly and
(24:24):
they're constantly under threatof bureaucracy that's making
their already underpaid job thatmuch harder.
So it seems like our main issuethat is underlying in all of
these things is a class-basedissue, in addition to the
xenophobia, the white supremacy,white nationalism.
(24:45):
So how do we combat theattitudes around that?
Because it seems like this hasbeen our stand in not just one
area, but 10.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Yeah, you know, yeah, almost, it almost is there,
almost because you have a, youhave a resource problem.
Then when people are leavingand then you need to refill a
lot of these seats and stufflike that, and then you also
have.
I think, like you said, it's aclass.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
it seems like a class problem that we're not properly
employing enough people, we'renot properly applying enough
resources, but also the resourceproblem is that you put
somebody in a room and saidwe're going to put you in this
room, we're going to give youthis problem and we're going to
give you a sharpie and an exactoknife and call it a damn day.
(25:32):
And so it's like, okay, if Idon't have the right tools, how
am I going to do it?
Speaker 1 (25:35):
And I also like to interject that that class issue
is also part of, and intertwinedwith, the way we approach
immigration, which is we aregoing to create a sub-level of
workers that is not protectedand that will allow us to
continue to depreciate wages forthe masses.
(25:55):
And then, especially in redstates, the attorney general,
the attorneys general of thesedifferent red states, will not
protect the workers, however, ifthose attorneys general did
take the position like inmassachusetts before I was a
lawyer, I was a professionaldancer and I was a community
organizer and, uh no, no.
(26:17):
African, afro, brazilian afrocuban but I still dance, I still
dance.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
I know I have friends who are strippers.
I love them.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
But here's the thing about that intersection of class
and xenophobia that works outbrilliantly for the
conservatives, who want to keepfunneling money up to the top,
is as long as you have anunderclass that cannot fight for
their rights, then you have gotwage depression across the
(26:51):
board.
Speaker 3 (26:51):
And then you've also convinced the poorest people
that are fighting for those samewages.
But they were born here.
You've turned those peopleagainst the underclass that
can't fight for themselves,because you've demonized that
underclass and you did.
And I just feel like thatdemonization is specifically
targeted at poor americans,because they're the people who
(27:13):
are going to buy it first,because they just want to look
for a scapegoat, and the peoplewho have no defense are easy
scapegoats.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Yeah when you like.
How do you sort of keep goingat it when it seems like,
systemically, there's this, thisgiant hurdle that that's around
now?
You're in florida now, and isit?
Uh?
I guess I'd love to know the thedifference between what is sort
(27:40):
of a climate change, uh war ondrugs kind of discussion when
we're talking about a influx ofuh migrants at the southern
border and the more true fromwhat I understand, the more true
reality that most of the peoplejust outstay their visa.
So the real immigration problemit's it's sort of a straw man
(28:01):
argument to say that I mean,obviously there's a problem at
the southern border that is,that is a legit humanitarian,
whatever we want to categorizeit, but that, like you said,
you've got a ton of people tocome in through the Canadian
border, a ton of people thatcome through that just outstay
their visas, and so when youwake up in the morning and
you're kind of you know, is it?
I guess my question is, how doyou sort of how do you find your
(28:25):
footing or your grounding inthough those sort of truths or
or or situations?
Speaker 1 (28:31):
I learned a long time ago that there's very little
eyes an individual can do aboutthe larger problems, and that
started actually with climatechange, because one of my best
friends went on to become thehead number cruncher for the
first climate change report forthe UN and I know how bad it
actually is and it's really badand we don't need to have a
(28:53):
discussion about that today.
Um, so I realized I need tofocus on what's right in front
of me, and that's what I didwhen I was a community
organizers.
I focused on problems that wereright in front of me.
I also I worked with acorn,which is now gone because the
Republican party destroyed itthrough subterfuge, but that's a
(29:15):
different story.
And again, we I just I look atsomething from a very micro
level, not a macro level.
Every day it's like these arethe people I'm trying to help
and how can I help them?
The best that I can, because Idon't have the possibility of
making these large legislativechanges, and I've been waiting
(29:35):
to see these large legislativechanges for over 30 years.
I don't see them coming.
I wish I did, I don't.
I don't believe they willhappen, and I think part of the
reason is because the powersthat be are both Republican and
Democratic and they don't wantto see us make more money.
They don't want to see us getahead.
(29:56):
They want to maintain thestatus quo.
But that doesn't mean I can'tfight for my individual families
and get them back together doyou?
Speaker 2 (30:04):
do you find that that is the case?
Because obviously I don't wantto necessarily turn it into to
specifically Republicans or, toyour point, democrats, but one.
We're just at a place inhistory now where you know John
Boehner is Republican, for agood example, his house is.
It's not even recognizable.
That's why you have Mitt Romneyleaving.
(30:24):
That's why you have Liz Cheneysaying that you know, with
regards to Jim Jordan, that hehas, no, he cannot be trusted to
to back up the Constitution.
You have people that they arelegislative terrorists, to use
Boehner's word on Jim Jordan.
I guess my question is one sideis probably, you know is would
(30:46):
be for at least trying to findsolutions or trying to, to try
to improve the situation.
The other side is for defundingand then pointing the finger
right like take, taking themoney away from it, and then
saying see, it doesn't work.
Well, it doesn't work becauseyou've defunded you started it.
Yeah, you starved it to deathand I feel in that, in that
aspect is there like because, asif you group together, you know
(31:09):
the, the writers, for example,you, they prove out here in
California that, okay, there isleverage that you have.
And I feel like, as immigrationattorneys, you guys, you know,
do you do find situations whereyou guys band together for to
sort of make, put you know,political hay or to make the you
know to make noise as a groupwhere you're saying, okay, this
(31:31):
is, this is what we need, thisis what we need, and I, you know
so.
For somebody that says, well,how could I help, how could I
sort of pay attention to thisfrom outside and and feel like,
okay, well, it's not completelyhopeless, you know, you, there's
yeah, there are definitelydifferent groups, and there are
different groups that people canget involved with whatever
their interest is.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
It doesn't have to be immigration um the question the
question is you know what?
what are we trying to accomplishright?
And?
And for some different groupsthere's different legislative
things that they're after.
So there is a organization thatworks on specifically LGBTQ
(32:11):
issues amongst immigrants andhow to try to get more
legislation passed that will bebeneficial for them.
Then there's, like theoverarching ALA has its own.
The American immigrationlawyers association has its own
legislative side that's alwaystrying to push for legislative
changes and organize around that.
Again back to the way oursystem works.
It's based upon money andlobbying.
(32:33):
Immigrants don't have big moneylobbyists in in the capital
they don't, and even though ALAhas a few, we don't as as a
group.
And back to workers in general,haven't because of the
breakdown of the union.
I, as a union baby my mom was aunion head, my dad was a union
(32:54):
head.
I am so happy to see thatpeople are finally realizing hey
, wait, unions actually do servea purpose.
They're not just corrupt, umyeah, yeah, but you know back to
my issue.
As far as the immigration, thepowers that be both sides of the
aisle are benefiting from thesystem the way it works now.
(33:15):
They just are and because ofthat I don't see it really
changing in a large way.
And then some ways that reallyare very humanitarian.
Back to Biden could have madeso many of these changes
overnight and he hasn't, and somany of them are from a
humanitarian standpoint.
Now there have been a coupleother things that he's done.
I'm happy about them.
I'm happy that we're allowingpeople to come in from the
(33:38):
Ukraine, from Venezuela that'sawesome.
That's great.
There's a small number fromHaiti as well.
That's great, but there thereare different administrative
changes that would help.
And then there are obviously,is the larger legislative change
which, by the way, back in theday we had both democratic house
(33:59):
and senate.
They could have theoreticallypassed some immigration reform
and they didn't even come closethat's true didn't even come
close, they didn't even touch it.
Speaker 3 (34:08):
Now also, it seems like, aside from the xenophobic
response, the white nationalismresponse, to me one of the
things that we haven't looked atis the practicality, because,
okay, when Ron DeSantis made allthose sweeping, like you know,
I'm gonna send people toMartha's Vineyard.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
But then there weren't even his.
They were Texas, that part.
Speaker 3 (34:30):
But what I noticed was there were all these.
So I follow these two.
They're like Mexican-basedTikToks, right, and they're
One's a Mexican-based TikTok andone's a Cuban-based TikTok, and
they're just like the peoplewho live in these regions that
will talk about like okay,here's what's happening in these
streets.
(34:50):
And so the Cuban TikTok wasshowing that there were whole
construction sites like almostpartially abandoned, like all
this stuff was delayed and itwas because of Ron DeSantis'
immigration stance.
So you would think that at somepoint just pure greed would
show that the more you denyimmigration to some of these
(35:13):
underserved minority groupsespecially, you've kind of
screwed yourself out of a laborforce because you're not paying
you know classic minimum wage toyour workers.
So it's so interesting thatthese people are so against
something that they exploit on aregular basis.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
Well, I'm gonna say I'm here in Florida and Ron
DeSantis is a very interestingcase.
Because of what you just said,many of his largest Republican
supporters came out and said tohim directly, either in the
media or in private what are youdoing?
(35:50):
What, and I've been supercurious as to what he does think
he's doing, because we havedouble-digit inflation here
compared to the rest of theUnited States.
We have repercussions that aregonna come from not having
people to work on theseconstruction sites and not work
in the farm that we're juststarting to see now.
I am very deeply concernedabout what's gonna happen to the
(36:11):
economy of Florida in the nextyear and a half.
But again, cutting his nose offdespite his but, he's still
hero to hero, by some, by some.
Well, it's losing.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
It's losing.
He's definitely losing ground,since, I mean, he rose to power
by kissing Trump's ass andbasically realizing everything
is theater nowadays, and so Ifeel like the Martha's Vineyard
thing was theater and itbackfired on him.
I feel like even, to somedegree, the Disney pushback
backfired on him.
Oh, the Disney pushback washilarious because I was like you
(36:44):
don't want to rumble with themouse boo boo, you don't want to
do it.
The mouse will cut the mouse.
The mouse will shiv you, it'llshiv you.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
The mouse has been the mouse for a million years.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
Well, even the Martha's Vineyard, my friend,
rachel Self, is the leadattorney to help out the
immigrants that were got off theplane in Martha's Vineyard and
she's working on the criminalcharges that are being brought
against to Santa's based on that.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
Now these are criminal kidnapping charges that
I am sure are going to goforward and they better hey look
at that, so we can leave on agood high note.
I love that.
That's good news.
That's good news Before ohsorry, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
Oh, I was just going to say, if you weren't, what can
our listeners do to assistprograms that are helping
especially underserved peoplethat are seeking immigration or
that need?
Speaker 1 (37:30):
So I mean you can donate to different kinds of
legal aid groups, but what I'mgoing to say and this is as my
life as a community organizerpeople underestimate the power
of a phone call.
If you want to see any kind oflegislative change about
immigration, about gay rights,about protection for different
(37:51):
minorities, et cetera, et cetera, the best tool you have is to
get on the phone with yourcongressperson and or, hopefully
, and your senators, and say no,I insist on staying on the line
until I get an aid to talk tome about this issue, because I
(38:11):
pay my taxes, so I pay all ofyour salaries, and I need to
express myself directly tosomeone who talks directly to my
congressperson or my senator.
Or I'd prefer to even talk tothem and say I want to see
change and this is why I want tosee change.
When I was a communityorganizer, I would have senators
sometimes approach me and sayLiz, I couldn't believe how many
(38:35):
phone calls I got about thatbill.
And I go oh really, how manydid you get?
And they'd say 10.
10 phone calls was huge to them.
Now, granted, this is a statesenator, but nonetheless, but
still.
Speaker 2 (38:51):
In fairness, most of them are over 100 years old
though, so it's like you know.
Speaker 3 (38:56):
Yeah, most of them, you know, don't know how to use
anything past the iPhone 6.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
Oh yeah, a landline phone, yeah so would it be Okay?
Speaker 3 (39:04):
so let's just put this out there what if we
consulted with you about just alittle blurb that we could tell
our listeners to use to call?
So because I feel like sometimes, unless people have like even
just a small script, of this iswhat I'm looking for, this is
what I want to be passionateabout and this is what I'm
asking you to pay attention for.
(39:25):
So maybe it's on us to providea little script like that to our
listeners and perhaps we canconsult with you on some things
that we should be looking to say.
I just feel like maybe if wehave a more proactive approach,
knowing that information thatthe calls, are the business,
then let's come up with a script.
I know the few times that I'vecalled my senators or my
(39:48):
congresspeople I've had a scriptsaying I'm calling specifically
about this issue, specificallyabout this case, and I feel like
just the specificity helps,because the specificity provides
a certain urgency that justcold calling alone wouldn't do.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
Yeah, I think what we might do is we maybe we'll put
together a list of Because Iknow there's a website that has
a list of numbers dependent onwhat state you're either in or
that you want to help, and sowe'll try and put that in the
show notes in addition to wemight call you for consultation
and see what might be the bestissue, especially as we get
(40:27):
closer to November of 24.
I think there's going to be astark choice, even though, to
your point, both sides sort ofbenefit from the issue.
Using your Ron DeSantis example, right now, you guys missed out
on a ton of tax revenue.
Ron, you missed out on a ton oftax revenue, so we'll put that
in the show notes.
Yeah Well, thank you, liz.
We appreciate it a ton for youtaking the time to talk with us
(40:50):
and help shed some light on this, because I think it really is
going to become a key issue insort of this giant, ultimately
as a power grab coming up in ayear from now for the whole set
of marbles, and so I thinkimmigration is going to be one
of those things where helpingseparate fact from fiction is
just going to be reallyimportant and lift it up Any
kind of voice that we can iswhat we do and what we
(41:11):
appreciate you being here to dowith us.
So thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (41:15):
Bye.
Speaker 2 (41:16):
Take care.
Speaker 3 (41:16):
It's lovely to meet you.
Hey everybody, welcome back.
So I hope you enjoyed ourwonderful interview with Liz.
Wasn't she informative?
I just learned so much, so Iwas really, really happy to get
a chance to talk to her.
And now we are going to debut avery brand new segment and it
is called the Wish Factor.
I wish a mother fucker would.
(41:37):
So in today's Wish Factor welooked at the housing issue that
some people have when they renttheir place out to renters.
So I don't know if you've seenthis, but there was this big
story about how this guy Airbnba room in his home and this lady
took him to court, got himkicked out of his home and is
(41:58):
basically squatting illegally.
And she's able to do so becausehe made the rental in a way
that bypass some permits that heneeded.
So because of that permitbypass, she's able to basically
claim squatters rights when shemade him pay her legal fees.
There was another example thatour producer Bree brought to us
(42:20):
where she said that a guy wasliving in his car because he
rented out his place to a guywho squatted illegally and now
is Airbnb in his basement.
So this man is living in hiscar and not getting any of the
funding that his squatter isgetting from renting his
basement.
And this is where the WishFactor comes in, because I wish
a mother fucker would.
(42:41):
First of all, I would raidDonovan at host so quickly.
I mean, I don't know raidDonovan personally, but I know
the ghetto versions and I feellike I would call Pookie and
them.
That's a Pookie and themsituation, because I would get
these people all the way up outof my house.
You would never.
And I saw the hue of thesepeople in question and I noticed
it was non brown, because Ifeel like brown and black people
(43:03):
would have dealt with this in aPookie and them fashion.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
I feel like we're almost getting to that point
where, if people feel that theycan't get there, solve through
the court system, then I wish amother fucker would.
What are you going to do?
Just take them out there andget them out.
Somehow There'd be a shotgunsome damn where Honey Exactly.
Speaker 3 (43:18):
That is crazy.
I'd cut the phone lines, allthe power would be gone, because
I bet the power and everythingis in my name.
I would have cut that so quick.
Speaker 2 (43:26):
I would starve you out Exactly.
Figure out ways to do that.
Speaker 3 (43:29):
I would get a slew of Negroes just to block the
driveway, just so you couldn'teat of it.
Hell, no, ain't a way.
Speaker 2 (43:36):
Yeah you could play share her second album or her
third album.
Speaker 4 (43:41):
I would just have like you believe in life after
love after love, keep bangingthat shit.
Speaker 3 (43:47):
I know the one that did it for me.
I remember when I was incollege there was this girl and
she was really obsessed withthat song.
I love you always, forever.
Speaker 4 (43:54):
She was just having on a loop.
Speaker 3 (43:56):
Sometimes it'd be like an hour of that song and I
was like girl, I'm going to killyou If you I mean you need to
have.
I can't say you'll love me,love me forever, one more damn
time.
I would just put that silentlyand pipe it through the house in
different ways, just likewhenever she had a thought I'd
be like I love you always,forever near and far closer
together 3 AM Okay.
Speaker 4 (44:17):
One free day.
I will be with you.
Every day, I will be for you.
I mean listen.
Speaker 2 (44:23):
I tell you what that's crazy.
And you know, before we go, Ibrought in a Torah story today.
You did, I did, I did.
I mean there's so many of theseand I'm looking forward to kind
of putting these out there weneed to make a Torah stories
book.
Speaker 3 (44:38):
I feel like we just need to profile all the
musicians and roadies we knowand we're like, give us your
best Torah story.
Speaker 4 (44:44):
It's a great idea Change the names to protect the
people that will sue us.
Speaker 3 (44:48):
I don't know if they had innocence.
Speaker 2 (44:50):
See, I wouldn't even go in there.
We were in Sweden one night andwe were the crew not me, of
course not.
We're looking for drugs and wewere looking everybody's.
We're bound by the bus.
It's like 2 am in the morning.
This guy comes up and he's likeyou guys need something.
(45:10):
And you know we're like, yeah,sure, we're looking.
He's like what do you need?
What do you need?
You need you want baby, I getyou baby.
You want drugs, I get you drugs.
We're like wait a minute, backup, back up, you get us a baby
Baby, your baby Are people.
Is that the first thing thatyou say is you're offering up a
baby I'll take a baby Jesus.
And he was like no, we don'ttalk about this, but if you need
a baby, I get you baby.
(45:31):
So nowadays we always if we'relike, if we're looking for
something specific, we're likeyou want baby.
Speaker 3 (45:38):
You want drugs.
Speaker 2 (45:38):
I get you baby.
So that's my tour story todayand I feel that's good, that's a
good one to end on.
Speaker 3 (45:44):
That's a great tour story.
You want baby, we get you, baby, we get you baby.
Speaker 2 (45:48):
So make sure if you've got, if you are a roadie
or if you're something like that, if you've got tour stories,
make sure to hit us up at infoat slap the power dot com, and
if you wish, a motherfuckerwould on anything also hit us up
either in the comments.
Speaker 3 (45:59):
Let us know your wish factor.
And also, we have a whole bunchof new subscribers, so we just
want to thank everybody that hasrecently joined our little
family.
We're growing and we are reallyexcited to be growing with you,
so thank you for supporting us,thank you for tuning in and,
just in general, thank you forriding with us.
(46:20):
We're figuring this out as wego, but we're always growing in
a positive direction, and thatis because of you all.
So thank you.
Speaker 2 (46:27):
Absolutely so, thank you guys.
Speaker 4 (46:31):
Slap the Power is written and produced by Rick
Barrio-Dill and Maya Sykes,associate producer Rikori audio
and visual engineering andstudio facilities provided by
Slap Studios LA withdistribution through our
collective home for socialprogress in art, slap the
Network.
If you have any ideas for ashow you want to hear or see, or
(46:53):
if you would like to be a guestartist on our show, please
email us at info at slap thepower dot com.
Biden has not done half of what he promised
immigration attorneys andimmigration attorney
organizations that he said hewould do.
There's so many small changeshe could make that would benefit
so many families.
He has not done that.
However, there has been amassive change in at least
allowing people withinimmigration to do their job.
(00:20):
So under the Trumpadministration, they lost over a
third of their workers in theDepartment of State and over a
quarter of their workers inUSAIS, who all just either quit
or retired early because theyweren't able to do their job.
Because the administration keptsaying things like you can't
say yes to anything and or youcan't accept any argument and or
(00:45):
you can't accept any of thesepetitions.
So, for example, daca, daca.
Trump just basically said youknow we're going to call this
illegal and we're going to makeit, so you have to.
Just you can file it, but noone's going to look at it.
So nobody has gotten DACA foryears.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
All right, all right, yo yo yo.
Welcome to slap the power.
The world may not need anotherpodcast baby.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
But a show do need that slap.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
That's right.
Welcome to slap the power, theshow where we try to cut things
up in one of three bins.
We usually put them in climate,democracy or rights, and today
is no exception.
We're going to be going intorights with an immigration
lawyer because I have a feelingand we were talking about this
offline that immigration isgoing to be the key issue in a
(01:48):
year from now.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
It's also interesting how rights affects policies,
which affects climate changewhich affects rights.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Yeah, democracy, rights, climate.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Exactly I mean it all be tied together, and our
expert for this particularsubject was really great about
breaking down nuances aboutimmigration that I didn't know
existed.
So I think that we need to haveepisodes that break down some
of these nuances, because it'sreally hard to get the nuanced
(02:22):
information that's behind a lotof these issues through
traditional media, like it'salmost non-existent.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Exactly that's why we created the show.
That's facts, that's facts, andso on the show today we're
going to have Liz Cannon.
She's an immigration lawyer, somake sure to stick around for
that.
We're also going to be doingTorah stories.
What Halloween edition.
That's right, halloween edition.
And we've got a new segmentthat we're going to be doing.
What's it called?
Maya?
Speaker 3 (02:47):
This segment is for all of you that have something I
like to call the wish factor,and that is you wish a mother
fucker would.
So what are things that, if youwere Peter Griffith, what would
grind your gears?
What is the thing that you wisha person would do?
Because that is the thing thatwill send you to the brink and
(03:10):
really make you show them true.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Aggravated colors, that's right, what are those
things?
That's the fuck around and findout.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
The answer to that, so yeah, and shout out to Cedric
, the Entertainer, because he isthe one that I got the wish
factor from.
If you've ever watched Kings ofComedy, he discusses the wish
factor in detail, that's right.
By wishing a mother fuckerwould take his seats, because
that's me right there, sir.
That's four and five, yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Four and five.
But first, one of the things wethere's so many things that
come up in the news nowadayswhere you're like, man, I want
to pick it, I don't want to findout more, but I saw this and I
was like we have to kind of gointo this.
Apparently, alexa, who won the2020 election, alexa, the voice
assistant from Amazon that's inan estimated of 70 million homes
(03:55):
, has been falsely telling usersthat the 2020 election was
rigged.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Now.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Now it says that this was out of the Washington Post,
so that's wild.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Ok, so what in the Jeff Bezos is going on Like who
at Amazon?
Amazonian scam is only was likelet's, let's, just, let's just
do this right here Like what'shappening.
No, that no.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
I feel misinformation is going to be.
It's the issue that is now onour doorstep.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
But if misinformation is now that systemic right.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Do we do exactly exactly when it's been in Alexis
in millions and millions ofhomes.
It says here in the WashingtonPost that the 2020 races were
and this is what Alexa would say, quote notorious for many
incidents of irregularities andindications pointing to
electoral fraud taking place inmajor metro centers.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
According, to Alexa Now.
Who did they say wasresponsible for this mishap?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
So here's the other thing it says Alexa contended
that Trump won Pennsylvania.
Citing an Alexa answerscontributor.
Get out of here Stop.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
So you're about to be the new Wikipedia, right.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Stop and false and saying false shit.
This is the problem.
So I feel like, pay attentionto where you get your news from,
and that means podcast too,because you know sometimes you
know we could be wrong.
We'd be the first one to tellyou if we're wrong, but you know
what If we are wrong?
Speaker 3 (05:17):
check us.
I'm not, I'm not sitting uphere trying to be miss right all
the time.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
No.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
I'm trying to be misinformed, not informed but,
MISS informed.
So or you know, ms, if youNasty, but we are a community
based podcast here, so we arereliant upon what the public has
to say, and if there'ssomething that we didn't get
(05:43):
right, please let me know.
I'm not her, I am not trying tobe the person who's dying on
the hill of.
I have to be right all the time.
In fact, I feel like that'swhat's killing the nation, yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Yeah, no, and straight up.
I feel like we're going to needeach other.
We're going to need to betalking about things that you
know most, everybody.
If you ask them, they'll say,oh well, the media, this the
media that they don't like it.
Well, we are the new forms ofmedia.
We if the election in 2016 wasone by 70,000 votes in three
(06:13):
different states and if in 2020,it was run one by 40,000 votes
in two states, the electoralcollege is a fucking problem and
the system that we have is setup in a way that it.
We need to figure our waysthrough this together and we
need to circumvent this sort ofsystemic system problem that
(06:35):
makes our democracy not function, and one of the things that is
going to be at the core of thefight for whether we become an
authoritarian nation or whetherwe actually stay a democratic or
try to be a democratic one, isgoing to be making sure that we
got our facts right, Make surewe got our information right,
because we are.
People nowadays say we're intwo different silos information
(06:55):
silos and that is true becauseof algorithms and our cell
phones and the Internet hasbroken our brains, but it
doesn't mean we can't seek outand find our overton windows
together.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
It means that we need even more outlets that give us
an opportunity to seek out, thatgive us an opportunity to not
just be sound bites at eachother, but really give us an
opportunity to understandnuanced information and to be
able to disseminate it in a waythat everyone can understand.
I was looking at just even theway I talk sometimes and a
(07:29):
friend of mine pointed out thatshe said you use a lot of big
words all the time.
And I'm not aware that I use alot of big words all the time.
I use it because I don't thinkof them as big words.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Don't be facetious.
You know that's not even big.
But you get my point.
Yeah, sure, I get your point.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
But so I've been looking at even just how to use
language in a way that is moreencompassing, because I
definitely can.
You know, to my friend's point,I'm not trying to be alienating
, right, but the climate hasbeen so polarizing, especially
(08:09):
against the educated, that theminute you say something that
could be construed as higherechelon.
Thinking you thinking becomeselitist.
Yeah and there I feel likethat's been done on purpose.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
It 100%.
Yeah, like when did sciencebecome the devil?
When did actually?
Speaker 3 (08:31):
books become the devil right there is.
I was listening.
I was looking at SNL the otherday and they were saying that in
Alabama there's this.
This guy is trying to have abook come out and because of
their ban on the word gay, hisbook can't come out because his
last name is gay.
Is that where we're at that?
Speaker 2 (08:52):
is so fucking stupid that that is just good, god.
I mean, I mean, we also have atheme that I stole from the
great and all-powerful JohnLovett, but it is.
Everything right now isridiculously important and
insanely stupid all at the sametime At the same god damn time,
and that's one of them, can you?
Speaker 3 (09:08):
not listen to Marvin Gaye in the state of Alabama,
because I did.
They take out all of MarvinGaye's music like sir.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
I mean.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
But this man cannot have his book in the library
because his last name is gay.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Get the fuck out of it.
I'm not and I was just like wow.
That's why we do what we do.
That's why we started thisshows, because that this kind of
ridiculous stuff.
We need to live because it'swowsers, yeah, and it's giving
wow it is giving wow factor andone of the things that you and I
kind of talked about, wherewe're.
We have this situation where ifwe, we, we understand that
Really there's one side ofgovernment in our country right
(09:46):
now that has professed that theydon't want to govern and and
and they're Explicit about it,and the other side is, is trying
, but in a kind of a brokensystem.
And I feel like immigration isthe one issue where, if there is
a weak spot for, you know, the,the side that is at least
trying to govern, it is, youknow there is a, there's a
(10:09):
nuanced to your point, problemswith immigration.
We haven't been able to solve alot of this stuff there's and
everything, and so, you know,nationalism and fascism kind of
are disguised as patriotismnowadays and a lot of propaganda
that's thrown around.
But what is real and what ispolitical theater is something
that I know.
(10:30):
Oh, for now and over the courseof next year, we're gonna try
and be getting that and that'swhy I'm so glad that we got a
chance to interview our guesttoday.
You know, liz, liz can, with agreat last name, cannon, I feel
like you know you're coming in,you're coming in.
You know, hot, hot guns loaded,so make sure, coming up after
coming up next is gonna be ourinterview with Liz can, and so
check it out.
(10:50):
It was definitely incrediblyinformative.
It sort of enlightened me on onthe fact that Tons of people
come through Canada who knew andyou know, yeah, so all kinds of
things.
So make sure to stay tuned.
We'll be right back with Lizcannon, okay, joining us for the
interview today.
You know, maya and I believethat we were talking kind of
(11:12):
off-camera, and immigration issort of one of those things that
it's a tough thing to talkabout nowadays Because it's you
know, sometimes it's a boringsubject, sometimes it's
something that people just feellike there's not a solution for,
and I know Maya and I were kindof talking it feels like it's
it might be the sole issue thatcan scare our country towards
autocracy in 24.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
I've always thought this, because maybe this is just
me as a black woman, but everytime I have seen immigration
brought up in the media,especially in a political sphere
, it seems like it's really codefor Xenophobia and white
supremacy.
Yeah, so my issue with the wayimmigration is discussed is that
(11:54):
we're not looking at all of itselements and it's still being
criminalized in weird ways thatstill champion White supremacy
and overall racism.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Yeah, yeah, and I mean what is real, almost
anymore because of what's likewhat you said and how it's
getting synthesized through themedia and what's sort of kind of
Heartless political theater,like sending immigrants to
Martha's vineyard or anythingelse.
On drug, why is the war ondrugs still a tool that's used
against a sensible solution?
And so thankfully, thankfullyjoining us today Is Liz cannon.
(12:28):
She's an immigration attorneyspecializing in I-601 waivers.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Liz, thank you so much for taking the time with us
today and helping us break thisdown so we can understand it
better and also Thank you fordoing it at our dinner, at your
dinner time, because we couldcasually hear you and your fam
Having dining times and a.
I just think that's reallysweet.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
It's a door.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
I didn't grow up with like that kind of thing, so
whenever I see like familiesdoing that.
I'm like.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Welcome.
Welcome, liz.
Thank you for coming.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
Okay, so pardon your girls ignorance and maybe for
the rest of the world.
But what is a six?
Speaker 4 (13:02):
Yeah, what's?
Speaker 1 (13:02):
there is a lot of minutiae in immigration law and
and most people who are notimmigration attorneys or who not
are actively involved in a 601process are never gonna know
what it is.
But it is one of those waysthat I explained to people who
are somewhat or veryanti-immigrant why their stance
(13:22):
may be, coming from a placethat's a little bit not in line
with what reality is forimmigrants.
So a 601 is necessary forpeople who are in the United
States without permission andhave some kind of reason that
they're not immediately allowedto get their green card through
their spouse, and that isactually a lot of people,
(13:43):
including anybody who camethrough the border without
inspection.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
How many?
How many people you think onaverage?
Speaker 1 (13:49):
you can easily get the stats from the Department of
State and USCIS on the amountof people who apply for 601s,
and I think it usually runsaround 300,000 people a year but
of the people that apply, howmany of those?
Speaker 2 (14:02):
how many people don't apply?
Speaker 1 (14:03):
So let's back up a little bit, let's talk about.
Let's talk about please illegalVersus whatever else.
So let's start with that.
So most of us immigrationattorneys prefer the term
Undocumented immigrant, andthere's a reason for that.
It's actually not illegal to beinside the United States
without permission it's.
(14:24):
It's a it's not a criminal act.
So if you don't have thepaperwork to show that you are
here with permission, thenyou're undocumented and you're
kind of unable to do almostanything.
A lot of people think people whoare undocumented can access
things like Welfare.
They can't.
They don't have the paperworkto get it, etc.
(14:44):
Etc.
But people who come across theborder or Come in with a visa
and then overstay that visa areboth undocumented immigrants.
There's a difference betweenthe two in immigration law.
However, if I come in to theUnited States as a tourist and I
just decide to stay, I am anundocumented immigrant, and
(15:07):
that's probably about One thirdor more of our undocumented
immigrants are people who camehere on a visa and just stayed.
They can get married to a UScitizen and automatically apply
for a green card.
If they have a child over theage of 21, that child can apply
for a green card.
It's pretty straightforward.
(15:27):
It's not that complicated.
However, if that person cameacross either the Canadian or
the Mexican border, and I dohave a lot of people who came
across the Canadian border withno inspection and then they get
married to a United Statescitizen at a later date.
They can't just get a greencard, they have to go through a
601 process.
And that's basically saying tothe government Please forgive
(15:49):
the fact that I am here withoutdocumentation and allow me to do
this and there's a level ofhardship you have to show to the
US citizen spouse.
It's not a guaranteed processand this is just one of those
interesting ways that weseparate immigrants that doesn't
really make very much sense if,if this spouse was a reality
(16:14):
housewife, would that make iteasier to get approved?
I have represented people whoare on a reality show.
I can't tell you who.
I have Represented people whosespouse worked for high-level
CIA.
I have worked for People whoseUS citizen spouse were the head
(16:37):
of one department of the DEA.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
Yeah, oh my god, they had to go through the same dang
hoops, yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Wild.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
What's your biggest challenge, Then?
As far as if you'respecializing in the 601s, what
do you find is your sort ofbiggest hurdle on a daily basis?
Speaker 1 (16:59):
So my biggest hurdle isn't even the 601s.
I'm an expert at them, I'm verygood at them.
I tend to win them.
My issue is sometimes with thegovernment and its inability to
understand that it's saying thatsomeone is inadmissible.
That's the term we use to sayyou can't get a green card when
they actually are.
That's my biggest hurdle, and Ihave to fight, sometimes pretty
(17:24):
hard, including going tofederal court and saying hey,
you guys are making a massivemistake.
This guy isn't eveninadmissible, and usually that's
about a criminal issue.
Sometimes it's not, though.
I had a client who, when he wentto his interview in El Salvador
, he made a mistake about a datewhen he was talking, and you're
(17:45):
not allowed to have animmigration attorney with you
when you go to these interviews,which I actually think is
technically against the law, butwe won't go into that.
So he's going to hisimmigration interview in the
consulate in El Salvador and hemessed up a date and they said
oh, so you were in the UnitedStates twice and he said, no, no
, I wasn't.
They said, but you just saidyou were.
And because he messed up oneday, we had to do this huge
(18:08):
rigmarole.
They didn't accept all theevidence showing he'd only been
in the states once.
We had this, all this evidenceabout him running his own
dentistry practice, so he wasn'tin the United States when he
messed up and said that date andI had to go to federal court to
sort it out.
It was so stupid.
Those are the kinds of thingsthat just drive me crazy,
because this is the big problemwith immigration and this is one
of the things I wish morepeople understood is it is a
(18:31):
huge bureaucracy and even as anattorney, I don't have access to
talk to the people who can makethe decisions.
I have to go through slow,terrible paperwork processes to
try to reach people most of thetime.
Every now and then I have acontact in some higher level
(18:53):
that I can reach out to, butit's pretty rare, and so much of
the time I'm actually forced tofile something in federal court
for something super, supersimple which, I gotta tell you,
waste our tax dollars.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
There's a lot of ways , so what you're saying is that
you're bogged down in my newdepartment government Okay, got
it.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
So can.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
I ask a question.
Yeah what has been the changebetween the Biden administration
from the Trump administrationand how is that affected?
First I'll say what you do.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Biden has not done half of what he promised
immigration attorneys andimmigration attorney
organizations that he said hewould do.
There's so many small changeshe could make that would benefit
so many families.
He has not done that.
However, there has been amassive change in at least
allowing people withinimmigration to do their job.
(19:44):
So under the Trumpadministration, they lost over a
third of their workers in theDepartment of State and over a
quarter of their workers inUSAIS, who all just either quit
or retired early because theyweren't able to do their job.
Because the administration keptsaying things like you're, you
can't say yes to anything and oryou can't accept any argument
(20:09):
and or you can't accept any ofthese petitions.
So, for example, daca, daca.
Trump just basically said youknow we're gonna call this
illegal and we're gonna make it,so you have to.
Just, you can file it, but noone's gonna look at it.
So nobody has gotten DACA foryears.
Wow, that is also something theBiden administration could have
(20:29):
possibly worked with Congressto get codified.
That hasn't happened.
That's harder to do.
That's not an easy thing forhim to do.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yeah, yeah, I wanted to.
I wanted to kind of to touchback on the things like because
we do have two problems, likeyou were saying.
One of them is you can't talkto the people in charge, and
another one seems to be likeit's legislative.
And if it's legislative, whenwe have an obstructionist house,
then there's something that apresident can promise.
But just the ways that are, theways that our Constitution,
(20:58):
ways, our government works, isgoing to make that not possible,
and that's not necessarily onon Biden, in so much as it seems
like you can't get.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Oh, of course, but there are because of the way
that administrative offices areset up.
Underneath the president, thereactually is a lot of power that
he has as the executive ofthese administrative offices,
and there was a hundred pointsthat Aila, the American
Immigration and LegalAssociation, handed the Biden
administration, saying these area hundred points of things you
(21:28):
could do the very first dayyou're in office to make life
easier for us as lawyers and forour clients, and to date I
think he's done 24 of them andare the?
Speaker 3 (21:38):
are the okay.
So the reason why he hasn'texecuted these hundred point
these okay.
Is the reason behind him notexecuting these hundred points
partisan issue or could he havejust with a clear no.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
These are.
These are small things that youcan say by having the agency
make a policy change.
It's not a change in the law.
So so in immigration law we'vegot different levels.
We've got congressional law andthen Congress delegates
responsibility for certaindetails of that law and how to
(22:14):
implement it to the actualagency.
The agency answers to thegovernment and the government
can say to the agency, forexample, something Obama did
that was fantastic.
The process I do is called the601.
Until the Obama administration,my clients were forced to leave
the United States and file their601 outside of the United
(22:36):
States and wait for it to bedecided, and that could take
somewhere between six months andtwo years.
They were separated from theirfamily that entire time waiting
for the answer on their 601.
Many people couldn't do that.
They couldn't afford to beseparated from their family for
two years.
The Obama administration veryeasily implemented a change in
the regulation it was very easyto do, took only a couple months
(22:58):
where he said we can do thisinside the United States if your
only inadmissibility is havingcome across the border and being
here longer than a year, andthat's called a 601A and that
was super easy to implement, andit made it so much.
There.
Hundreds of thousands offamilies could now benefit from
a waiver that they it was tooscary to take on beforehand, and
(23:19):
or financially impossible.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
So what?
And then what happened?
So the Trump administrationcame in and obviously their
mission was to gut governmentfrom the inside, and you know
there was a giant brain drainthat went on.
But so what did they do?
Speaker 1 (23:30):
That program still exists but because of the loss
of workers, it has ground to avery slow crawl and 601As that
were once being approved inabout four months, are now
taking the current processingtime, I believe, is 29 months.
Yeah, and that's and that'smostly, I will say, due to the
(23:51):
fact that so many people leftthe USCIS, left immigration,
because they were like I can'twork in these, I can't work in
this environment, I can't workin these circumstances, I'm out.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
Well, it also seems like that's a growing trend,
because if we're looking at justthe state of the US right now,
you've got auto workers onstrike, actors on strike,
teachers are leaving in droves.
It seems like these, you know,people that were instrumental in
making things go forward haveleft in droves because they're
being treated terribly, they'renot being paid properly and
(24:24):
they're constantly under threatof bureaucracy that's making
their already underpaid job thatmuch harder.
So it seems like our main issuethat is underlying in all of
these things is a class-basedissue, in addition to the
xenophobia, the white supremacy,white nationalism.
(24:45):
So how do we combat theattitudes around that?
Because it seems like this hasbeen our stand in not just one
area, but 10.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Yeah, you know, yeah, almost, it almost is there,
almost because you have a, youhave a resource problem.
Then when people are leavingand then you need to refill a
lot of these seats and stufflike that, and then you also
have.
I think, like you said, it's aclass.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
it seems like a class problem that we're not properly
employing enough people, we'renot properly applying enough
resources, but also the resourceproblem is that you put
somebody in a room and saidwe're going to put you in this
room, we're going to give youthis problem and we're going to
give you a sharpie and an exactoknife and call it a damn day.
(25:32):
And so it's like, okay, if Idon't have the right tools, how
am I going to do it?
Speaker 1 (25:35):
And I also like to interject that that class issue
is also part of, and intertwinedwith, the way we approach
immigration, which is we aregoing to create a sub-level of
workers that is not protectedand that will allow us to
continue to depreciate wages forthe masses.
(25:55):
And then, especially in redstates, the attorney general,
the attorneys general of thesedifferent red states, will not
protect the workers, however, ifthose attorneys general did
take the position like inmassachusetts before I was a
lawyer, I was a professionaldancer and I was a community
organizer and, uh no, no.
(26:17):
African, afro, brazilian afrocuban but I still dance, I still
dance.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
I know I have friends who are strippers.
I love them.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
But here's the thing about that intersection of class
and xenophobia that works outbrilliantly for the
conservatives, who want to keepfunneling money up to the top,
is as long as you have anunderclass that cannot fight for
their rights, then you have gotwage depression across the
(26:51):
board.
Speaker 3 (26:51):
And then you've also convinced the poorest people
that are fighting for those samewages.
But they were born here.
You've turned those peopleagainst the underclass that
can't fight for themselves,because you've demonized that
underclass and you did.
And I just feel like thatdemonization is specifically
targeted at poor americans,because they're the people who
(27:13):
are going to buy it first,because they just want to look
for a scapegoat, and the peoplewho have no defense are easy
scapegoats.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Yeah when you like.
How do you sort of keep goingat it when it seems like,
systemically, there's this, thisgiant hurdle that that's around
now?
You're in florida now, and isit?
Uh?
I guess I'd love to know the thedifference between what is sort
(27:40):
of a climate change, uh war ondrugs kind of discussion when
we're talking about a influx ofuh migrants at the southern
border and the more true fromwhat I understand, the more true
reality that most of the peoplejust outstay their visa.
So the real immigration problemit's it's sort of a straw man
(28:01):
argument to say that I mean,obviously there's a problem at
the southern border that is,that is a legit humanitarian,
whatever we want to categorizeit, but that, like you said,
you've got a ton of people tocome in through the Canadian
border, a ton of people thatcome through that just outstay
their visas, and so when youwake up in the morning and
you're kind of you know, is it?
I guess my question is, how doyou sort of how do you find your
(28:25):
footing or your grounding inthough those sort of truths or
or or situations?
Speaker 1 (28:31):
I learned a long time ago that there's very little
eyes an individual can do aboutthe larger problems, and that
started actually with climatechange, because one of my best
friends went on to become thehead number cruncher for the
first climate change report forthe UN and I know how bad it
actually is and it's really badand we don't need to have a
(28:53):
discussion about that today.
Um, so I realized I need tofocus on what's right in front
of me, and that's what I didwhen I was a community
organizers.
I focused on problems that wereright in front of me.
I also I worked with acorn,which is now gone because the
Republican party destroyed itthrough subterfuge, but that's a
(29:15):
different story.
And again, we I just I look atsomething from a very micro
level, not a macro level.
Every day it's like these arethe people I'm trying to help
and how can I help them?
The best that I can, because Idon't have the possibility of
making these large legislativechanges, and I've been waiting
(29:35):
to see these large legislativechanges for over 30 years.
I don't see them coming.
I wish I did, I don't.
I don't believe they willhappen, and I think part of the
reason is because the powersthat be are both Republican and
Democratic and they don't wantto see us make more money.
They don't want to see us getahead.
(29:56):
They want to maintain thestatus quo.
But that doesn't mean I can'tfight for my individual families
and get them back together doyou?
Speaker 2 (30:04):
do you find that that is the case?
Because obviously I don't wantto necessarily turn it into to
specifically Republicans or, toyour point, democrats, but one.
We're just at a place inhistory now where you know John
Boehner is Republican, for agood example, his house is.
It's not even recognizable.
That's why you have Mitt Romneyleaving.
(30:24):
That's why you have Liz Cheneysaying that you know, with
regards to Jim Jordan, that hehas, no, he cannot be trusted to
to back up the Constitution.
You have people that they arelegislative terrorists, to use
Boehner's word on Jim Jordan.
I guess my question is one sideis probably, you know is would
(30:46):
be for at least trying to findsolutions or trying to, to try
to improve the situation.
The other side is for defundingand then pointing the finger
right like take, taking themoney away from it, and then
saying see, it doesn't work.
Well, it doesn't work becauseyou've defunded you started it.
Yeah, you starved it to deathand I feel in that, in that
aspect is there like because, asif you group together, you know
(31:09):
the, the writers, for example,you, they prove out here in
California that, okay, there isleverage that you have.
And I feel like, as immigrationattorneys, you guys, you know,
do you do find situations whereyou guys band together for to
sort of make, put you know,political hay or to make the you
know to make noise as a groupwhere you're saying, okay, this
(31:31):
is, this is what we need, thisis what we need, and I, you know
so.
For somebody that says, well,how could I help, how could I
sort of pay attention to thisfrom outside and and feel like,
okay, well, it's not completelyhopeless, you know, you, there's
yeah, there are definitelydifferent groups, and there are
different groups that people canget involved with whatever
their interest is.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
It doesn't have to be immigration um the question the
question is you know what?
what are we trying to accomplishright?
And?
And for some different groupsthere's different legislative
things that they're after.
So there is a organization thatworks on specifically LGBTQ
(32:11):
issues amongst immigrants andhow to try to get more
legislation passed that will bebeneficial for them.
Then there's, like theoverarching ALA has its own.
The American immigrationlawyers association has its own
legislative side that's alwaystrying to push for legislative
changes and organize around that.
Again back to the way oursystem works.
It's based upon money andlobbying.
(32:33):
Immigrants don't have big moneylobbyists in in the capital
they don't, and even though ALAhas a few, we don't as as a
group.
And back to workers in general,haven't because of the
breakdown of the union.
I, as a union baby my mom was aunion head, my dad was a union
(32:54):
head.
I am so happy to see thatpeople are finally realizing hey
, wait, unions actually do servea purpose.
They're not just corrupt, umyeah, yeah, but you know back to
my issue.
As far as the immigration, thepowers that be both sides of the
aisle are benefiting from thesystem the way it works now.
(33:15):
They just are and because ofthat I don't see it really
changing in a large way.
And then some ways that reallyare very humanitarian.
Back to Biden could have madeso many of these changes
overnight and he hasn't, and somany of them are from a
humanitarian standpoint.
Now there have been a coupleother things that he's done.
I'm happy about them.
I'm happy that we're allowingpeople to come in from the
(33:38):
Ukraine, from Venezuela that'sawesome.
That's great.
There's a small number fromHaiti as well.
That's great, but there thereare different administrative
changes that would help.
And then there are obviously,is the larger legislative change
which, by the way, back in theday we had both democratic house
(33:59):
and senate.
They could have theoreticallypassed some immigration reform
and they didn't even come closethat's true didn't even come
close, they didn't even touch it.
Speaker 3 (34:08):
Now also, it seems like, aside from the xenophobic
response, the white nationalismresponse, to me one of the
things that we haven't looked atis the practicality, because,
okay, when Ron DeSantis made allthose sweeping, like you know,
I'm gonna send people toMartha's Vineyard.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
But then there weren't even his.
They were Texas, that part.
Speaker 3 (34:30):
But what I noticed was there were all these.
So I follow these two.
They're like Mexican-basedTikToks, right, and they're
One's a Mexican-based TikTok andone's a Cuban-based TikTok, and
they're just like the peoplewho live in these regions that
will talk about like okay,here's what's happening in these
streets.
(34:50):
And so the Cuban TikTok wasshowing that there were whole
construction sites like almostpartially abandoned, like all
this stuff was delayed and itwas because of Ron DeSantis'
immigration stance.
So you would think that at somepoint just pure greed would
show that the more you denyimmigration to some of these
(35:13):
underserved minority groupsespecially, you've kind of
screwed yourself out of a laborforce because you're not paying
you know classic minimum wage toyour workers.
So it's so interesting thatthese people are so against
something that they exploit on aregular basis.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
Well, I'm gonna say I'm here in Florida and Ron
DeSantis is a very interestingcase.
Because of what you just said,many of his largest Republican
supporters came out and said tohim directly, either in the
media or in private what are youdoing?
(35:50):
What, and I've been supercurious as to what he does think
he's doing, because we havedouble-digit inflation here
compared to the rest of theUnited States.
We have repercussions that aregonna come from not having
people to work on theseconstruction sites and not work
in the farm that we're juststarting to see now.
I am very deeply concernedabout what's gonna happen to the
(36:11):
economy of Florida in the nextyear and a half.
But again, cutting his nose offdespite his but, he's still
hero to hero, by some, by some.
Well, it's losing.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
It's losing.
He's definitely losing ground,since, I mean, he rose to power
by kissing Trump's ass andbasically realizing everything
is theater nowadays, and so Ifeel like the Martha's Vineyard
thing was theater and itbackfired on him.
I feel like even, to somedegree, the Disney pushback
backfired on him.
Oh, the Disney pushback washilarious because I was like you
(36:44):
don't want to rumble with themouse boo boo, you don't want to
do it.
The mouse will cut the mouse.
The mouse will shiv you, it'llshiv you.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
The mouse has been the mouse for a million years.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
Well, even the Martha's Vineyard, my friend,
rachel Self, is the leadattorney to help out the
immigrants that were got off theplane in Martha's Vineyard and
she's working on the criminalcharges that are being brought
against to Santa's based on that.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
Now these are criminal kidnapping charges that
I am sure are going to goforward and they better hey look
at that, so we can leave on agood high note.
I love that.
That's good news.
That's good news Before ohsorry, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
Oh, I was just going to say, if you weren't, what can
our listeners do to assistprograms that are helping
especially underserved peoplethat are seeking immigration or
that need?
Speaker 1 (37:30):
So I mean you can donate to different kinds of
legal aid groups, but what I'mgoing to say and this is as my
life as a community organizerpeople underestimate the power
of a phone call.
If you want to see any kind oflegislative change about
immigration, about gay rights,about protection for different
(37:51):
minorities, et cetera, et cetera, the best tool you have is to
get on the phone with yourcongressperson and or, hopefully
, and your senators, and say no,I insist on staying on the line
until I get an aid to talk tome about this issue, because I
(38:11):
pay my taxes, so I pay all ofyour salaries, and I need to
express myself directly tosomeone who talks directly to my
congressperson or my senator.
Or I'd prefer to even talk tothem and say I want to see
change and this is why I want tosee change.
When I was a communityorganizer, I would have senators
sometimes approach me and sayLiz, I couldn't believe how many
(38:35):
phone calls I got about thatbill.
And I go oh really, how manydid you get?
And they'd say 10.
10 phone calls was huge to them.
Now, granted, this is a statesenator, but nonetheless, but
still.
Speaker 2 (38:51):
In fairness, most of them are over 100 years old
though, so it's like you know.
Speaker 3 (38:56):
Yeah, most of them, you know, don't know how to use
anything past the iPhone 6.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
Oh yeah, a landline phone, yeah so would it be Okay?
Speaker 3 (39:04):
so let's just put this out there what if we
consulted with you about just alittle blurb that we could tell
our listeners to use to call?
So because I feel like sometimes, unless people have like even
just a small script, of this iswhat I'm looking for, this is
what I want to be passionateabout and this is what I'm
asking you to pay attention for.
(39:25):
So maybe it's on us to providea little script like that to our
listeners and perhaps we canconsult with you on some things
that we should be looking to say.
I just feel like maybe if wehave a more proactive approach,
knowing that information thatthe calls, are the business,
then let's come up with a script.
I know the few times that I'vecalled my senators or my
(39:48):
congresspeople I've had a scriptsaying I'm calling specifically
about this issue, specificallyabout this case, and I feel like
just the specificity helps,because the specificity provides
a certain urgency that justcold calling alone wouldn't do.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
Yeah, I think what we might do is we maybe we'll put
together a list of Because Iknow there's a website that has
a list of numbers dependent onwhat state you're either in or
that you want to help, and sowe'll try and put that in the
show notes in addition to wemight call you for consultation
and see what might be the bestissue, especially as we get
(40:27):
closer to November of 24.
I think there's going to be astark choice, even though, to
your point, both sides sort ofbenefit from the issue.
Using your Ron DeSantis example, right now, you guys missed out
on a ton of tax revenue.
Ron, you missed out on a ton oftax revenue, so we'll put that
in the show notes.
Yeah Well, thank you, liz.
We appreciate it a ton for youtaking the time to talk with us
(40:50):
and help shed some light on this, because I think it really is
going to become a key issue insort of this giant, ultimately
as a power grab coming up in ayear from now for the whole set
of marbles, and so I thinkimmigration is going to be one
of those things where helpingseparate fact from fiction is
just going to be reallyimportant and lift it up Any
kind of voice that we can iswhat we do and what we
(41:11):
appreciate you being here to dowith us.
So thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (41:15):
Bye.
Speaker 2 (41:16):
Take care.
Speaker 3 (41:16):
It's lovely to meet you.
Hey everybody, welcome back.
So I hope you enjoyed ourwonderful interview with Liz.
Wasn't she informative?
I just learned so much, so Iwas really, really happy to get
a chance to talk to her.
And now we are going to debut avery brand new segment and it
is called the Wish Factor.
I wish a mother fucker would.
(41:37):
So in today's Wish Factor welooked at the housing issue that
some people have when they renttheir place out to renters.
So I don't know if you've seenthis, but there was this big
story about how this guy Airbnba room in his home and this lady
took him to court, got himkicked out of his home and is
(41:58):
basically squatting illegally.
And she's able to do so becausehe made the rental in a way
that bypass some permits that heneeded.
So because of that permitbypass, she's able to basically
claim squatters rights when shemade him pay her legal fees.
There was another example thatour producer Bree brought to us
(42:20):
where she said that a guy wasliving in his car because he
rented out his place to a guywho squatted illegally and now
is Airbnb in his basement.
So this man is living in hiscar and not getting any of the
funding that his squatter isgetting from renting his
basement.
And this is where the WishFactor comes in, because I wish
a mother fucker would.
(42:41):
First of all, I would raidDonovan at host so quickly.
I mean, I don't know raidDonovan personally, but I know
the ghetto versions and I feellike I would call Pookie and
them.
That's a Pookie and themsituation, because I would get
these people all the way up outof my house.
You would never.
And I saw the hue of thesepeople in question and I noticed
it was non brown, because Ifeel like brown and black people
(43:03):
would have dealt with this in aPookie and them fashion.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
I feel like we're almost getting to that point
where, if people feel that theycan't get there, solve through
the court system, then I wish amother fucker would.
What are you going to do?
Just take them out there andget them out.
Somehow There'd be a shotgunsome damn where Honey Exactly.
Speaker 3 (43:18):
That is crazy.
I'd cut the phone lines, allthe power would be gone, because
I bet the power and everythingis in my name.
I would have cut that so quick.
Speaker 2 (43:26):
I would starve you out Exactly.
Figure out ways to do that.
Speaker 3 (43:29):
I would get a slew of Negroes just to block the
driveway, just so you couldn'teat of it.
Hell, no, ain't a way.
Speaker 2 (43:36):
Yeah you could play share her second album or her
third album.
Speaker 4 (43:41):
I would just have like you believe in life after
love after love, keep bangingthat shit.
Speaker 3 (43:47):
I know the one that did it for me.
I remember when I was incollege there was this girl and
she was really obsessed withthat song.
I love you always, forever.
Speaker 4 (43:54):
She was just having on a loop.
Speaker 3 (43:56):
Sometimes it'd be like an hour of that song and I
was like girl, I'm going to killyou If you I mean you need to
have.
I can't say you'll love me,love me forever, one more damn
time.
I would just put that silentlyand pipe it through the house in
different ways, just likewhenever she had a thought I'd
be like I love you always,forever near and far closer
together 3 AM Okay.
Speaker 4 (44:17):
One free day.
I will be with you.
Every day, I will be for you.
I mean listen.
Speaker 2 (44:23):
I tell you what that's crazy.
And you know, before we go, Ibrought in a Torah story today.
You did, I did, I did.
I mean there's so many of theseand I'm looking forward to kind
of putting these out there weneed to make a Torah stories
book.
Speaker 3 (44:38):
I feel like we just need to profile all the
musicians and roadies we knowand we're like, give us your
best Torah story.
Speaker 4 (44:44):
It's a great idea Change the names to protect the
people that will sue us.
Speaker 3 (44:48):
I don't know if they had innocence.
Speaker 2 (44:50):
See, I wouldn't even go in there.
We were in Sweden one night andwe were the crew not me, of
course not.
We're looking for drugs and wewere looking everybody's.
We're bound by the bus.
It's like 2 am in the morning.
This guy comes up and he's likeyou guys need something.
(45:10):
And you know we're like, yeah,sure, we're looking.
He's like what do you need?
What do you need?
You need you want baby, I getyou baby.
You want drugs, I get you drugs.
We're like wait a minute, backup, back up, you get us a baby
Baby, your baby Are people.
Is that the first thing thatyou say is you're offering up a
baby I'll take a baby Jesus.
And he was like no, we don'ttalk about this, but if you need
a baby, I get you baby.
(45:31):
So nowadays we always if we'relike, if we're looking for
something specific, we're likeyou want baby.
Speaker 3 (45:38):
You want drugs.
Speaker 2 (45:38):
I get you baby.
So that's my tour story todayand I feel that's good, that's a
good one to end on.
Speaker 3 (45:44):
That's a great tour story.
You want baby, we get you, baby, we get you baby.
Speaker 2 (45:48):
So make sure if you've got, if you are a roadie
or if you're something like that, if you've got tour stories,
make sure to hit us up at infoat slap the power dot com, and
if you wish, a motherfuckerwould on anything also hit us up
either in the comments.
Speaker 3 (45:59):
Let us know your wish factor.
And also, we have a whole bunchof new subscribers, so we just
want to thank everybody that hasrecently joined our little
family.
We're growing and we are reallyexcited to be growing with you,
so thank you for supporting us,thank you for tuning in and,
just in general, thank you forriding with us.
(46:20):
We're figuring this out as wego, but we're always growing in
a positive direction, and thatis because of you all.
So thank you.
Speaker 2 (46:27):
Absolutely so, thank you guys.
Speaker 4 (46:31):
Slap the Power is written and produced by Rick
Barrio-Dill and Maya Sykes,associate producer Rikori audio
and visual engineering andstudio facilities provided by
Slap Studios LA withdistribution through our
collective home for socialprogress in art, slap the
Network.
If you have any ideas for ashow you want to hear or see, or
(46:53):
if you would like to be a guestartist on our show, please
email us at info at slap thepower dot com.
Popular Podcasts
1. Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
2. The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
3. Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.