Welcome to Talking Politics with Sam! My sister will join me on the podcast to talk about different hot political topics that she wants to learn about and I walk her through understanding the complicated topics.

To kick of this series she wants to learn more about immigration and why it is such a controversial topic. This episode includes discussion of policy history, the process of becoming a naturalized citizen in the U.S. and what makes someone an unauthorized or “illegal” immigrant. Part II we talk about ICE raids and the goal of deporting criminal unauthorized immigrants.

To submit an episode idea send me an email at mackenzieatkinson@thatspoliticspodcast.com or you can dm us on Facebook!

Source Material:

Defining unauthorized immigrant and population information:

• Unauthorized immigrant definition,
• NPR McMinnville and Klhar (2019),
• Nationwide encounters and apprehensions,
• Estimating the illegal immigrant population using current population survey (2022),
• Center for Immigration Studies,
• SPLC designating CIS as a hate group,
• John Tanton information,
• DHS estimating the unauthorized immigrant population,
• Estimates of lawful permanent resident population in the U.S. (Miller and Baker, 2023),
• American Community Survey,

Naturalization:

• Expenses of naturalization,
• How long it takes,
• Green card application process,
• Federal judge blocks asylum barring NPR and PBS,
• 10 step naturalization process,
• Should I consider U.S. citizenship?

Policy history:

• “Melting-pot theory,”
• Immigration trends overtime,
• Pew Research study August 21, 2025,

Bush Administration:

• S-COMM,
• Expedited removal process,
• Generalized immigration policy,

Obama Administration:

• Obama immigration press briefing,
• Deportations by year,
• Obama immigration impact/reflection (CATO Institute),
• Obama immigration statistics,
• DACA expansion information,

Biden Administration:

• Generalized,
• Boost refugee admission cap,
• CBS News public charge enforcement stopped,
• Asylum ban at U.S.-Mexico border,

First Trump Administration:

• Migration Policy four years of change,
• RAISE Act focus,
• Detention hotline being ended,
• Legal orientation program,
• EOIR Director,
• Denaturalization section of DOJ,
• Other allotted refugee categories,

Second Trump Administration (so far):

• NPR Top 5 issues,

• Kilmar Abrego Garcia timeline.