In this episode of Conversations That Matter, we have the pleasure of speaking to Siobhan Waldron, managing attorney at Immigrant Legal Defense, and Jacqueline Campos Ledezma, a pre-dental student at CSU, Fresno. In this conversation, we explore what Advance Parole is and who can take advantage of it. Additionally, Shibonh gives us an insight on wh…

In this episode of Conversations that Matter, we talk to Manoj Govindaiah, managing attorney at Immigrant Legal Defense, and Lauren Markham, communications and partnerships director with also Immigrant Legal Defense. In the episode, we dive into the topic of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and our legal expert, Manoj, gives us a history of this s…

Today's guests are Kyle Shideler, Mike Waller, and Adam Savit. We Discuss: The 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor and the role Soviet agents played in the attack, reports that the Chinese are looking to expand their military presence into the Atlantic, and finish with a conversation about state-sponsorship of illegal migration. We want to hear from y…

Today's guests are Kyle Shideler, Mike Waller, and Adam Savit. We Discuss: The Waukesha tragedy, ongoing negations surrounding the Iran Nuclear Deal, the Taliban's attempt to join the U.N., and the U.S. considering getting rid of the terrorist designation for FARC. We want to hear from you! Contact us at questions@notcleared.org with any questions,…

On today's episode, Center Senior Analyst for Strategy, Michael Waller, sat down with Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and talked with him about a variety of national security topics. They discussed the ongoing investigations surrounding the January 6 incidents, national security impacts of vaccine mandates, and many other issues that impact Americ…

Today's guests are Kyle Shideler and Mike Waller. We talk to them about a variety of "basic" national security questions that people may feel embarrassed to ask. While the questions seem relatively straightforward, when they're expanded upon and discussed further, it becomes clear that a question as simple as "What is national security?" can help e…

Today's guests are Kyle Shideler and Mike Waller. We Discuss: President Biden's recent comments at the UN Climate Change Conference, Mike's experience from January 6th, and a new documentary Tucker Carlson has on that day, and finish by discussing a proposal from the Biden administration to pay illegal immigrants up to $450,000 each. We want to hea…

Today's guests are Grant Newsham and Jim Fanell. We talk to them about the importance of Taiwan - both strategically and militarily, and why the United States should care about defending this important country. Due to China's recent military aggression towards Taiwan, the clock is ticking, and the United States needs to take a strong stance for pro…

Today's guest is Ambassador Pete Hoekstra, the Center Advisory Board Chairman. We Discuss: How the U.S. Intelligence Committee works, the agencies that make up the intelligence community, the creation of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, competition among the different intelligence agencies, and recent comments made by Mark Mille…

On today's episode, Morgan and Matt discuss 5 dirty secrets about national security, and specifically how these secrets impact all facets of work in Washington, DC. The 5 secrets discussed are: Foreign funding, the idea that access is everything, how nobody acknowledges when they are wrong, DC rewarding those who value the "system," and institution…

Today's guests are Adam Savit, Kyle Shideler, and Maya Carlin. We Discuss: A recent development in the Russian collusion narrative, the ongoing crisis at the U.S. Southern border, Big Tech censorship, and stories of Antifa attacking journalists throughout the United States. We want to hear from you! Contact us at questions@notcleared.org with any q…

Today's guest is Mike Waller, the Center's Senior Analyst for Strategy. We Discuss: the idea of subversion, how foreign powers use it, subversion's impact on the 2016 Russian collusion narrative, how to subvert the Iranian regime, and how subversion has a role in many prominent Hollywood productions. We want to hear from you! Contact us at question…

Today’s guests are Mike Waller, Senior Analyst for Strategy, and Adam Savit, Project Coordinator for the China Program at the Center. We Discuss: Antony Blinken's Congressional testimony regarding the Afghanistan withdrawal, a purging of military officials from U.S. service academies, vaccine mandates, and finish by discussing Japan and Vietnam sig…

Today on Not Cleared we talk to multiple members of the Center for Security Policy staff to hear their thoughts and recollections from 9/11 in remembrance of the 20 year mark of the deadliest terrorist attack in U.S. history. We finish by speaking with Kyle Shideler to get a better understanding of the ideology and motivations of the 9/11 hijackers…

Today's guests are Fred Fleitz, President of the Center, and Victoria Coates, the Center's Senior Analyst for the Middle East and North Africa. We Discuss: The August 26 attacks in Kabul, an overview of the National Security Council (NSC), Fred and Victoria's experience working in the NSC, what the national security strategy is, and how the NSC has…

Editor's Note: This podcast was recorded before the events of August 26th. Today’s guests are Kyle Shideler, Director of Counterterrorism and Homeland Security and Adam Savit, Project Coordinator for the China Program at the Center. We Discuss: The August 31 deadline President Biden has agreed to for withdrawing, how many Americans are in Afghanist…

Today’s guests are Tommy Waller, Director of Infrastructure Security and Kyle Shideler, Director of Counterterrorism and Homeland Security at the Center. We Discuss: Tommy's first-hand experience serving in Afghanistan, an ideological background of the Taliban, effects of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and a history of U.S. negotiations with…

Today’s guest is David Wurmser, a Senior Analyst at the Center for Security Policy. We Discuss: Why what happened to the Trump campaign in 2016 was not novel - Dave’s career in federal government - Working in the Bush administration during 9/11 - How the bureaucracy has weaponized investigations of political appointees - What federal investigators …

Today’s guests are Kyle Shideler, Director of Counterterrorism and Homeland Security and Adam Savit, Project Coordinator for the China Program at the Center. We Discuss: Iran’s escalation in the Middle East - The ongoing crisis at the border - Biden’s “Root Cause” immigration strategy - The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan - China’s nuclear program…

Today’s guest is Fred Fleitz, President and CEO of the Center for Security Policy. We Discuss: Fred’s career in the intelligence community - What it is like to work at the CIA - The keys to being a good analyst - How to get a job at the CIA - Is the CIA spying on Americans? - Who prepares the Presidential Daily Brief? - Fred’s thoughts on Afghanist…

Today's guest is Frank Gaffney, the founder of the Center for Security Policy. We Discuss: Frank’s job at the Pentagon during the Reagan administration What is nuclear deterrence? Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) What is the nuclear triad? The U.S. nuclear arsenal compared to Russia and China Importance of nuclear testing The missile sil…

Today’s guest is Kyle Shideler, the Director of Counterterrorism and Homeland Security at the Center for Security Policy. We Discuss: The definition of terrorism, how counterterrorism has changed post 9/11, why it is important for law enforcement to consider ideology rather than tactics, and whether or not white supremacy is the “most persistent an…

In this episode of Conversations that Matter, we talk to Diana from Fresno State and Carlie from San Francisco State as they share their experiences navigating being a college student as a "Dreamer,' their experience with ILD services, and the impact Dream Centers at their perspective CSU has had on their college journey.…

In this episode of Conversations that Matter, we are joined by Gaby Encinas, Dream Success Center Coordinator at Fresno State and Luis De Paz Fernandez, AB 540 Dream Coordinator at the Dream Resource Center at San Francisco State. In this episode, they discuss their role at each of the campuses and what each of their Dream centers are doing to ensu…

This episode focuses on DACA or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which is an immigration program implemented in 2012 by the Obama-Biden administration that was made possible by the advocacy of undocumented youth. We’ve had the DACA program for almost nine years and the program has been at risk of termination several times now, especially dur…

Welcome to Conversations that Matter with Immigrant Legal Defense and Fresno State’s Dream Success Center. In today’s episode we are going to talk with ILD attorneys Barbara Pinto and Eleni Wolfe-Roubatis about the first year of the CSU Immigration Legal Services Project.

This podcast is a collaboration between Immigrant Legal Defense, a nonprofit agency dedicated to providing immigration legal services to underserved immigrant communities in California and Fresno State’s Dream Success Center, a student support program providing services to undocumented students in the Central Valley of California.…

A lot has happened since the series was released this past summer--in particular there's been a lot of talk about DACA: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The program has protected thousands of undocumented people from deportation. But recently the Trump Administration announced it would phase out DACA in March 2018. I wanted to see what the r…

To conclude the podcast series “Indefensible”, we created this podcast extra for listeners. It’s a conversation between Will Coley, the independent radio producer who created the series, and Mizue Aizeki, the Immigrant Defense Project’s Deputy Director. Will and Mizue talk about the larger context for the series. It’s been twenty years since the U.…

Long-time resident, community activist, father, and husband, Ravi Ragbir, has fought against permanent exile from life in the U.S. for over 11 years. For Ravi and his family, it’s been a fight to take back control over their lives.

Patrick Thaxter’s story is emblematic of the particular struggles of Black people caught between our discriminatory criminal legal and immigration systems -- from policing to punishment. It speaks to the ways in which multiple forms of injustice intersect to criminalize and funnel Black immigrants, in particular, into the detention and deportation …

In 2016, William Diaz Castro was arrested at his home in New Orleans by ICE agents who were looking for someone else. He was charged with “illegal reentry” because he had been deported to Guatemala before. But this time, William’s wife Linda and their son witnessed the traumatic arrest. William is a leader with the Congreso de Jornaleros/Congress o…

Lundy and Linda Khoy are sisters who both got in trouble with the law. They were arrested separately for ecstasy when they were in their teens. Both say they were rebelling against their strict immigrant parents in Virginia. But the similarities end there. The fork in their destinies can be traced back to where they were born.…

Eddy Arias remembers the night he was pulled over by the Houston Texas police. It was first time he had ever interacted with law enforcement since he’d moved to the U.S. from Mexico as a child. He still remembers every moment. When Eddy realized he’d been racially profiled, he stood up for his Constitutional rights. But what happened next drew him …

Indefensible is a limited podcast series brought to you by the Immigrant Defense Project. Over five episodes, we'll bring you stories from people who are standing up and holding out; fighting to be with their families. They say they’re here to stay.