We are delighted to welcome Dylan Corbett, the Executive Director of the Hope Border Institute based in El Paso, TX. Dylan reflects on the cycles in U.S. history of welcoming migrants followed by intense rejection. He laments the massive funding boost to immigration enforcement and how that is fueling an expansion of immigration detention centers across the country. With the abuses committed on the streets and in detention, he emphasizes the impossibility of conducting a campaign of mass deportation humanely.

Brian and Joe share stories that reflect this reality. Joe talks about visiting a center in northern Mexico that is receiving and processing deported Mexican nationals. Eric, a young man in his early 30s, had come to the U.S. as an infant. He does not speak Spanish, and has been separated from his U.S.-citizen wife and children. With no family currently in Mexico, he was at a loss for where to go or what to do now. Brian shares updates on the story of our good friend Isis from Venezuela, who was detained in April 2025 for his tattoos. The latest updates on his story shed light on the inhumanity of the process and the way that detention is key to the government’s goal of mass deportations.