Every unaccompanied immigrant child facing deportation is legally entitled to a lawyer — it's the law, not a favor. But the federal contract funding that representation for over 20,000 children expires this month, and instead of an open replacement process, reporting from the Texas Tribune reveals a series of phone calls: the Trump administration quietly asking Texas's Attorney General's office, then the ten-person Texas Indigent Defense Commission, to take on the job — an agency with no experience, no funding, and no legal authority to do it.

John Carlos Frey breaks down the facts.

https://theraidpodcast.org/

https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/03/trump-texas-doj-indigent-defense-unaccompanied-immigrant-children/

https://www.tpr.org/border-immigration/2026-07-06/trump-administration-asks-texas-for-help-providing-legal-services-to-immigrant-kids-facing-deportation

https://www.sacurrent.com/news/texas-news/trump-administration-asks-texas-for-help-providing-legal-services-to-immigrant-kids-facing-deportation/

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John Carlos Frey talks with Nicole Locklin — a Miami attorney and first-time candidate now running as the Democratic nominee for Florida's 26th Congressional District against 24-year incumbent Mario Diaz-Balart.

Locklin explains what pushed her into the race. She explains the district's dramatic post-redistricting shift, the role of ICE and Stephen Miller in the current wave of immigration raids, the financial toll of the "Alligator Alcatraz" detention facility, and her platform centered on affordability, government accountability, and abolishing ICE.

The conversation closes with a frank look at her odds in a historically red-leaning, minority-majority district and how her campaign plans to combine political organizing with direct community aid.

https://locklinforcongress.com/

https://theraidpodcast.org/

Disclaimer:

The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates"). The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.

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John Carlos Frey sits down with Flor Melendrez to talk about the wave of ICE raids that swept through Los Angeles car washes over the past year. Melendez shares her personal path into labor organizing — growing up the child of garment worker parents, negotiating wages for them as a child, and later working with day laborers before helping build the clean car wash campaign into what is now the Clean Car Wash Worker Center where she is the Executive Director.

The two also discuss the racial and political dimensions of the raids — why car washes, garment factories, and Home Depot parking lots were targeted, and whether the operations reflect broader anti-immigrant sentiment tied to the upcoming election. Melendrez closes with reflections on more raids yet to come, community resilience, the networks that have formed in response to the raids and how people can support the organization's work.

https://www.cleancarwash.org/

https://theraidpodcast.org/

Disclaimer:

The statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants on this program are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of the distributor of the program and any person or entity affiliated with said distributor ("distributor's affiliates"). The distributor and distributor's affiliates are not responsible for, and shall not be liable for, the statements and opinions expressed by the host or participants, or for any content that appears on the program.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.