July 9 – The UNHCR Report that Classifies Central American Children as Refugees, Not Migrants; Will the U.S. Cave into Pressure to Streamline Deportations?; The Deepening Crisis in Iraq and Intensifying Military Action in Gaza

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with a report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees that finds the majority of the children from Central America heading to the United States that they interviewed qualify as refugees not migrants. Jana Mason, the Senior Advisor for Government Relations and External Affairs at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees where she represents the UNHCR’s interests with the U.S. government, joins us to discuss the definitions and criteria that determine who is a refugee and who is a migrant.

Part 2

Then we speak with Ruthie Epstein, an immigration policy analyst and lobbyist at the American Civil Liberties Union who has an article in Wednesday’s New York Times “Show Fairness and Due Process”. We discuss the extent to which the humanitarian crisis on our southern border has become a political football and whether the U.S. will stick to its obligations under existing law or cave in to pressure to streamline deportations by doing away with due process.

Part 3

Then finally we discuss the deepening crisis in Iraq and intensifying military action between Israel and Hamas that could soon lead to a ground invasion of Gaza. Juan Cole, professor of Modern Middle Eastern and South Asian History at the University of Michigan and author of the new book “The New Arabs: How the Millennial Generation is Changing the Middle East” joins us to discuss the future of the generation that brought about the Arab spring and whether Middle Eastern governments are now more worried about internal stability than supporting external instability through proxies like Hamas.