Simple Immigration Economics: Bigger is Better
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What announcements and listener notes kick off the episode?
Hey, optimists, it's Robin. Because the 4th of July is, according to some economists I know, the best holiday ever, we didn't record a new episode of Optimist Economy that week. Mostly it was really because Sophie and I were on vacation. But a few news developments did catch my eye. First, June 25th, the Supreme Court issued two rulings related to immigration. The court let the administration basically end temporary protected status for both Haitians and Syrians, and they also said that such decisions are beyond the review of the courts. Now, TPS is a program that gives legal status to people when it isn't safe for them to go back to their country of origin. Usually that's because of a war or a natural disaster.
This ruling exposes about 1.3 million people from a dozen countries to potential removal from the United States. In the second case, the Supreme Court also cleared the way for Border Patrol to physically turn back immigrants from setting foot on U.S. soil as a way to prevent them from filing a claim for asylum at a border crossing. Finally, there has been a surge in arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This is part of a push directed by the White House for ICE to arrest 2,000 people a day. This is twice the rate it was earlier this year. In light of all that news, it seemed like a good time to rerun this episode of ours from June 24th, 2025, called Simple Immigration Economics, Bigger is Better.
Hello and welcome to Optimist Economy. I'm Katherine. And I'm Robin. And on this show, we believe the U.S. economy can be better when we talk about how to get there one problem and solution at a time.
Also, this is the first recording from Texas, and so I had to make sure I had my hat and my Topo Chico, which is like the most common form of water here. Diesel bottled water, just Topo Chico. I think it's like there's a collab with the city of Houston, how much Topo Chico there is in this place. Every cafe, every bar has got a Topo Chico umbrella. Yeah, exactly.
Exactly.
We would take their money if they wanted to sponsor us.
Would they like to sponsor us? Really? Turn that thing around, blur that out until we get some money from Topo Chico.
That's a great point. That's a great point. Anyway, y'all, the podcast won't change a lick just because I'm here in Texas. Wanted to make sure that was clear. All right, well... Couple of announcements at the top. Couple of announcements at the top of the hour. Thank you for prompting me, Robin. I remember how to do a show. We have a website, optimisteconomy.com. We have an email address, optimist.economy at gmail.com. We love to hear from you. We love to post your letters. You can... Subscribe to the show. Subscribe to the newsletter. Of course, give us your donations and sponsorships. You listening and you paying is what makes the show possible. And we are eternally grateful for your time and your money. And of course, any correspondence you send us.
Also, for your reviews on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts, I did want to share this great review we got. It's a five-star review. I just want to point that out. It's a five-star review, but it says, "...inspired podcast is also a war with the medium." And after saying some nice things, it says, but also come for the tire fire that is these two brilliant ladies backstopped by a producer we can infer is both talented and sleepless, doing every single thing wrong as they launch their first wonderful podcast. Love the honesty, sir. I am all for that kind of candor. And it's not inaccurate.
Wow. Okay.
So if you would like to continue to support our tireless producer in making us audible, you can do that at any of the places that Catherine mentioned.
I love our listeners. You optimists out there, you really keep me going. And it's definitely letters like that that give nuance and texture.
Yeah.
It is true. We are building this plane as we fly it. But, you know, if that leads you to the expectation that I'm going to get any better at this, I just want to disabuse you of that right now.
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