In the wake of the Trump administration’s declaration of a national emergency earlier today, we turn our attention to the related history of walls and the eugenics movement. Our guest is Jorge Juan Rodríguez V, who recently published an article on Truthout, “The Last Time the US Wanted a Wall, 70,000 People Were Sterilized.”
For the remainder of the hour, Esty discusses today’s breaking news of a national emergency.
Jorge Juan Rodríguez V is a PhD candidate in modern religious history at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He holds degrees in biblical studies, social theory, and liberation theology. Jorge is a Hearst Doctoral Fellow with the Forum for Theological Exploration , a Doctoral Fellow at the Hispanic Theological Initiative, and is on staff with the Hispanic Summer Program. He is the son of two Puerto Rican migrants.
To hear our recent coverage on presidential emergency powers, check out the final segment of the January 11 episode of the podcast, where guest Andrew Boyle from the Brennan Center for Justice discusses the potential ramifications of the president’s power to declare a state of national emergency.