Is ICE Only Arresting Criminal Migrants?
What A Day
What A Day
4.6 • 12.6K Ratings
🗓️ 30 January 2025
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed the Laken Riley Act, a new law that requires law enforcement to detain undocumented immigrants who are accused – not convicted – of committing a crime. During the signing ceremony, Trump also announced his intent to sign an executive order to send migrants to a detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. It all comes amid a very public push by the administration to show Americans it's very serious about cracking down on illegal immigration, even as the details remain a little opaque. Michelle Hackman, a reporter covering immigration for The Wall Street Journal, breaks down what's actually happening.
And in headlines: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. flails in his first confirmation hearing to be the next health secretary, The Trump administration walks back its order to freeze federal funds for grants and loans… maybe? And former Sen. Bob Menendez was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison.
Show Notes:
- Check out Michelle's work – wsj.com/news/author/michelle-hackman
- Support victims of the fire – votesaveamerica.com/relief
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's Thursday, January 30th. I'm Jane Koston and this is what a day, the show telling you to hide your roadkill because we're recapping the RFK Jr. Confirmation hearings. |
| 0:18.4 | On today's show, former New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez receives a sentencing for those gold bars, |
| 0:24.1 | and the Trump administration's federal funding freeze is in flux. |
| 0:27.8 | But let's start with immigration, because there's a lot to cover. |
| 0:31.8 | On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed the Laken Riley Act, |
| 0:34.9 | which requires that undocumented immigrants who were accused, |
| 0:38.1 | not convicted, of committing a crime, whether it's violent or not, be detained. |
| 0:42.8 | The bill got bipartisan support, including from Democrats in swing districts. |
| 0:46.9 | And Trump got to do two of his favorite things. |
| 0:49.2 | Take a victory lap and denigrate some immigrants. |
| 0:52.0 | They come from all over the world. |
| 0:53.7 | They come from every continent. |
| 0:55.9 | And they came here by plane, and they were loaded onto buses, |
| 0:59.2 | and they were driven right up to our border, |
| 1:01.2 | and they drove right through the border, |
| 1:03.1 | and nobody even said a word to them. |
| 1:05.5 | And in those buses and those cars and those trucks |
| 1:08.2 | were some of the meanest criminals anywhere in the world. |
| 1:11.5 | He also did his third favorite thing, |
| 1:13.5 | make a big announcement that seems like a massive deal, |
| 1:15.8 | but raises a bunch of questions that he will never, ever answer. |
| 1:19.7 | In this case, he announced plans to sign an executive order |
... |
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