20 - "What They Want is to Save Their Lives"

Covid-19 has all but reset our public memory. For many Americans, asylum-related topics like Remain in Mexico, zero tolerance, family separations, and safe third-country agreements have faded from our thoughts. The next two episodes provide an opportunity to revisit and remember some of those policies by hearing from people who were experiencing their outworking on the ground pre-pandemic. Their insights speak to the mentality of an administration that has continued aggressively reducing immigration across the board during the pandemic, especially for forcibly displaced people. We start by hearing from two people in Honduras. Señora Malvia runs a shoe store in Tegucigalpa and spends her time and energy caring for the families of migrant people. Alexander is a coffee farmer who made the journey north in hopes of being able to provide for his wife and kids.