The Politics of New America

A key victory that sprung from the Civil Rights Movement, The Voting Rights Act has long protected black and minority voters from racist policies designed to weaken their political power and silence their voices. Now after decades of conservative attacks on the act, the supreme court has the opportunity to kill some of its strongest voter protection measures. Should they succeed, Americans will lose the ability to challeng...

People from all over the world have long sought American citizenship as a way towards a better life. The rights, privileges and protections guaranteed by citizenship could only be removed in special and rare circumstances, until now. The federal government is stepping up efforts to strip citizenship from naturalized immigrants for offenses as minor as traffic violations. At the same time, birthright citizenship, long const...

President Trump has used executive orders to weaken enforcement of regulatory crimes and corporate corruption in the name of making American businesses more competitive globally. On this episode we explore Trump's policies around corruption and corporate crimes. We examine two executive orders that weaken the federal government's ability to prosecute companies who violate long standing corruption laws. Then ask, will these...

The Supreme Court has quashed a lower court order that sought to make sure the Trump administration wasn't sending deportees to unsafe nations. While the decision isn't final, the SCOTUS judges have made removing detained immigrants much easier for now. Meanwhile the massive detention infrastructure needed to house the ten of thousands of people scooped up in ICE raids is being worked on all over the nation. Old prisons wi...

War is on everyone's mind this week, so we dive into the Israel-Iran conflict and how it's highlighting tensions among Trump's advisors. Then we discuss the question: How is it the President of the United States can drag the nation into military conflict without congressional approval and is there any check on the president's power as commander and chief? Learn how American presidents have long fought wars without declarin...

The Alien Registration Act was passed in an era of fear leading up to America's entrance in the Second World War. Today it's being used to trap undocumented immigrants by forcing them into a no-win scenario where they end up being criminalized no matter what they do. On this episode we look at how this law came into being, how the Trump Administration is using it, and the many pitfalls and dangers to anyone registering und...

In light of the increasing frequency and intensity of ICE raids, we look at the massive challenges facing the agency in carrying out the Trump administration’s deportation policy. 

Trying to remove millions of people from the US by force requires a tremendous manpower, legal shortcuts, and billions upon billions of dollars. That's not enough to stop the federal Government. Find out how the groundwork for mass deportation is...

The Travel Ban returns from the depths of Trump's first term, but don't be mistaken, this new one is a whole different beast. Listen to this Weekly Brief for a quick breakdown of who will be affected by the new travel ban, how it compares to the old one, and what to look out for going forward. 

The Politics of New America explores and explains the policy of the American federal government in this era of rapid change. Join u...

 President Trump has ordered the deployment of National Guard troops in California to protect and assist ICE agents carrying out his immigration crackdown using the powers given to him in Title 10 of the United States legal code. The deployment’s legality is under heavy scrutiny with legal challenges expected to come thick and fast. Today we breakdown how the president took control of the National Guard, the legal issues s...

Poland's recent presidential election was decided by a razor thin margin. Did the American conservative movement tip the scales to secure the election of the right wing, nationalist presidential candidate? And is this just the first of many elections where American conservatives will influence foreign voters? Join us for a look at the powerful political machinery that is the Conservative Political Action Conference, it's w...

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr is going after CBS, NBC, NPR, and other media outlets as the agency pursues a dangerous new policy of aggressively attacking critics of the Trump Administration. Peek behind the curtains at the FCC as we discuss the agency's 5 commissioners, each with their own conflicting political goals. Then look ahead to the future as we reveal why the Trump FCC is just getting wa...