Nationwide, there has been a recent increase in migrants coming to the U.S. Ohio has also seen some of this influx with the arrival of Afghan and Ukrainian refugees and asylum-seekers from Central and South America.
During the State of the Union address last week, President Joe Biden briefly touched on immigration, the southern border and policy reform.
In his speech, he referenced a major bipartisan immigration reform bill that stalled in Congress, in part due to the politics of the 2024 Election. "It's a simple choice, we can fight about fixing the border or we can fix it. I'm ready to fix it. Send me the border bill now,” he said.
Immigration has become a central part of many politicians’ 2024 campaigns, including the Ohio U.S. Senate race. Republican Matt Dolan recently launched an ad about what's happening at the southern border.
In the ad, he says, "I'm Matt Dolan. Here at our southern border, fentanyl is flooding into America. Chinese-backed cartels are smuggling drugs as deadly as bombs. This poison is a weapon of mass destruction. In the state senate, I voted to designate the cartels as terrorist organizations. In the US Senate, I'll use whatever means necessary to secure our border and stop the flow of fentanyl into our country."
On Wednesday's Sound of Ideas, we’ll spend time talking with a local immigration attorney about the current landscape of immigration policy, how it affects immigrants and non-immigrants in Ohio and what policy reforms are being proposed.
Guests:
- Heather Prendergast, Immigration Attorney and Partner, Aljijakli, Kosseff and Prendergast
