Not From Around Here: 7 Podcasts About Immigration and People

Immigration is a hot topic all over the world, and everybody’s got an opinion. There is a fear of Syrian refugees in more countries than I care to count. Marine Le Pen and Donald Trump both ran campaigns largely based on stoking immigrant-related fear in their respective countries, and neither attempted to hide their contempt for immigrants or speak out against the overt racism of their supporters.

Most recently, immigration took a prominent role in public conversation when President Trump announced the 6-month rollback of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), an Obama-era executive order which allowed some people who had illegally entered the country or overstayed valid visas as minors. This action sent thousands of DREAMers and their supporters into the streets to protest, and unexpectedly led to renewed talk of finally passing a DREAM Act to put some of DACA’s protections into law.

And of course, we know all about The Wall.

But many of our opinions on immigration are uninformed and completely ignore the humanity of immigrants and their loved ones. I personally knew nothing about it until I was forced to learn when my husband and I applied for his green card. I never had to encounter it before that, having grown up in Oklahoma.

That is why I started Status, to tell the human stories immigration affects and occasionally to educate a listener or two on how immigration works. At least in the United States.

Status isn’t alone in the podcast world, though. Here are some of my favorite podcasts about immigration and the people it impacts.

Here Be Monsters — Snow on Date Trees, Then on Pines

Tariq’s story gets to the core of so many cultural debates being had in the world in this moment. He was a teacher in Panjur, and when his school was threatened for teaching girls by men with guns, he left for the United States on a J1 visa. The thing about the J1, though, is that it expires and then you’re required to go back “home” for a couple years before applying for a new visa. Instead of going back to Panjur and risking his life, Tariq applied for asylum, stayed in the US, and struck up a relationship with a woman who had never met a Muslim before.

The Daily by The New York Times— Monday, Feb. 27, 2017

Monica Davey of The Daily tells the story of a town that voted overwhelmingly for Trump. The people in this town didn’t know that Trump’s immigration plan would mean that one of their beloved friends would be arrested by federal immigration agents.

This one illustrates just how strong people’s opinions on immigration can be even before they understand how exactly what their desired policy changes would mean for their communities.

99% Invisible — Church (Sanctuary, Part 1) and State (Sanctuary, Part 2)

99% Invisible takes a look at the concept of “sanctuary” and how it began in the 1980's because of a Presbyterian church that was protecting refugees from El Salvador. The episodes explore the efforts of that church and of the Immigration and Naturalization Service to shut down their work to protect refugees.

If you’ve ever struggled to explain or understand the concept of a “sanctuary city” or you’re just interested in the history of the movement, this worth a listen.

Science Vs — Immigration

Science Vs from Gimlet tackles controversial topics by looking at all of the science around those topics. With immigration, there was a tremendous opportunity to study what happened after thousands of immigrants left Alabama.

Wendy Zukerman looks at whether immigrants can “take” a job and if so which jobs those are. She also looks at the effect immigration can have on crime rates, if any.

Science Vs is one of my favorite shows, and Wendy and the team do a great job of being super exhaustive in their research.

Status — Windows and Doors

While making this episode, I was floored by the incredible story of Juan and his mother, Patricia. I think you’ll love listening to it.

Patricia moved with her son, Juan, to Kansas City from Colombia in 1992. When Patricia left an abusive partner, she and Juan had to figure out a new plan for their future. Often, this involved protecting Juan from the reality of some of the situations they were living in, including the home for women child survivors of domestic abuse that they lived in for a time.

I really don’t want to spoil this one for you. The relationship that this mother and son have built where they shift naturally from mother and son to pilot and co-pilot is what makes this story great.

USA Today — The Wall: Reporting on the Border

This isn’t a single episode. To be honest, it isn’t even just a podcast.

USA Today and AZCentral.com have launched a podcast as part of their larger multimedia effort called The Wall. It’s an attempt to tell the story of the Mexican-US border and the people that live and work there, rather than just talking about what can feel like a mythical border.

Undone — Ibrahim

This incredible episode of Gimlet Media’s now-defunct Undone features Ibrahim Parlak. In his small Michigan town, Ibrahim was everyone’s favorite restaurant owner. He had come to the US as a Kurdish refugee from Turkey, started a family, started a business, and assimilated into his new home. Then, the United States labeled him as a terrorist.

If you have any more great podcasts about immigration, find me on Twitter @mattahorton!

The Bello Collective is a publication + newsletter about podcasts and the audio industry. Our goal is to bring together writers, journalists, and other voices who share a passion for the world of audio storytelling.

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