Hello, big News, Everybody exactly writes news podcast Brief Recess is finally here.

Brief Recess is a smart, funny, and deeply insightful look at the American legal system, the real stories, the loopholes in all the ways the lass shapes everyday life.

It's hosted by attorney and viral TikTok star Michael Foot and his best friend Melissa Malbranch.

They bring humor and clarity to the pressing legal questions that we all have today.

We're so proud to bring you episode one, titled Ice Abuses and Accountability finally, featuring a conversation with California Congressman Robert Garcia.

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And now please enjoy exactly, writes news podcast Brief Recess.

Goodbye, Welcome to brief Ress sigm Michael Foot.

I'm Melissa Albranch.

Today we're going to be talking about the last time I was ever seen in public and a romper, Melissa's last time out in the state sale, the Ditty Trial, the time Melissa had to talk to her mother about water sports.

Monica Lewinsky deep dives into cases about special immigration juvenile status, an interview with Congressman Robert Garcia, and all the questions you send me in my DMS.

I'm Michael Foot.

I'm a criminal defense lawyer and an immigration attorney here in New York City.

I am the first thing you see in the morning and the last thing you see before your husband disappears.

Melissa, would you like to introduce herself.

I can't believe you just said that.

My name is Melissa Malbrandt.

I am absolutely positively not a lawyer.

I stand by that.

I had been working in the nonprofit space for about twenty five years now, and Michael and I met, i'd say about ten years ago.

We've been really good friends ever since.

You called me when your cat died, and that's how I knew we were close friends, or Cat was dying and New called me and star your husband.

I did because I knew that you would understand what I was going through, but you wouldn't be as emotional about it as my husband.

People often come to me when they want a direct, emotionless answer, unless it's like a Saturday night and I've been drinking.

In Brooklyn and eaton taco bell.

We're going to be talking about all sorts of legal things that come up in the headlines.

I've really wanted to start this show with my best from Melissa because there are so many long form things I can't talk about on social media, and people love coming to like my feeds to learn a little something about what's happening with immigration law, what's going on in court.

But I can't really expand or they can.

It's hard for me to answer all their questions.

So you'll hear a lot on this show.

We constantly are going to be returning to this notion of like, what can we be doing right?

Like I hate the concept of doom scrolling.

I hate the notion that people aren't like supporting each other.

I hate this idea that like, oh, we're descending into fascism and like that's it.

It was like a think piece.

I hate that idea.

I want people to feel empowered to sort of like flex their democratic muscles to affect some sort of change in their community, even if it's going to a small protest, even if it's like working and volunteering at like your food bank, and sort of like looking at the headline, seeing what's happening and then explaining what's going on and then exactly what you can do about it, rather than it just being like, well that sucks, onto the next article, right exactly.

So I could never do like a full romper situation.

I feel like I've seen you in a romper, and I don't think that's true at all.

You were out here on these streets this morning.

Andre asked me if I was starting work at a garage.

Okay, murder on the dance floor, Jesus Christ, Andre, that is no.

No, no, So Andre?

Is I mean, you know, Andrea very conservative little man and like dresses like everybody's dad.

Yes, so like anything out of the ordinary.

I feel like I've given him some things that don't fit me, like they're too small, so I give him to him.

You have not.

I feel like I've given him a sweater over the years.

I feel like that might be your other black friend that you've given things.

Okay, immediately instantly racist, I.

Mean no, not racist.

I mean I feel like I feel like if they're black people who know what I'm talking about, sometimes you are your white friend's only black friend.

They have like two.

Yeah, now I understand.

I'm the only gay friend for a lot of people, and I'm treated like a mascot.

Sometimes they're like, get the gay one at.

The wedding, get that who, get the party started?

Get No, we need someone who's looking cute at them.

Something nice, something like a good dress.

What's his name again?

Mark?

It's like, you're not Mike, Like you're not Mike.

I am Mike to a very specific group of people, and one demographic calls me Mike.

I'm going to give you one chance to guess.

Yeah, is it somebody from like your childhood.

It's the guy fixing my dishwasher.

It's like the guy fixing the like put the plumbing in my apartment.

It's always like a man over a certain age.

They don't know you.

Yeah, the name is Michael.

No.

No, It's like my dad's friends.

It's like people who know me.

It's men of a certain white straight man of a certain age, are like, Mike, how's it going.

It's a very long island thing.

Okay.

People randomly call me Michelle for no good reason.

I've called you way worse than Michelle behind your back, into your face.

What did you do this weekend?

Well, you were working at the garage.

I was, yeah, I changed the carburetor.

Brad will look me right in the eye and be like, oh, Professor Plumm is joining us if I'm wearing like a sweater and a time just Christ, it's actually so diabolical.

I don't catch strays in my house.

I catch them straight to the face.

What I do this weekend?

So this is wardrobe changing time for me?

So I do this by annually.

Oh, Melissa loves a good I do a good closet cleanout special.

But I like, I recorded something and I was going to post the TikTok.

But I'm not like you.

I am not a prolific poster.

If you're thinking about posting something to TikTok, my number one rule, don't be precious with it, post it unedited, broke in.

I am not precious yet.

Yeah, no, no, no, no, that's not it.

It's just a mess.

But I was just like, I am actually embarrassed at the amount of shit that I own.

It is, But those are the videos that everyone loves.

Those are the videos of mine that blow up when I'm like, it's hey, I had to pick up a client and I'm wearing cooochie cutters and a crop top that's mesh because it's Pride month and I ended up having to go to the precinct and and it's always so mortifying for me.

But those are the videos that usually blow up.

I mean, I don't I actually don't care if the video blows up or not.

I mean, maybe I should, but I don't care.

But I care that I feel like I have become victim to over consuming, right, and to be fair, I do buy a lot of thrifted items.

You know, we know I love in the States sales, so it's not but I do buy things.

Also, let me just be.

Clear about that.

Yeah, and no judgment here.

I'm a violent consumer.

I am judging myself, okay, judging my line.

I am where disposable income goes to meet its disposal.

I don't want to be that person.

But there's a difference between not wanting to be someone and accepting who you are.

Know thyself.

I know myself and I am a bitch with too much shit.

And not enough space.

You do have storage, so.

That's the thing, right, is that every year I pack up twice a year and I take it to storage a storage facility.

Okay, okay, so that is actually cry for help.

Yeah, it is a little bit of a.

I need someone to come in and tell me what to do.

I'll do it.

No, you sorry, I need somebody who's known.

I love that.

My friends don't want to They're like, because I'm like I love to come up for dinner.

They're like, get fuck you will because you will enable me?

No, yes, I I throw everything out.

I'm like, Brad, this has been here for a week.

It is a it's our tax return.

I think we should either you know, post it online or throw it out.

Like, I'm like, this can't be sitting here.

I feel like you would come over and we just wouldn't get anything done.

I feel like it would turn into a runway.

I do think that we would probably do some sort of fashion show.

I don't want that.

Actually comment below.

If you do want to see me go to Melissa's house, we do a full wardrobe.

I could yeah, we could do different out there.

Who wants to help me take a good long heard look at my wardrobe and be like, bitch, you're never gonna wear this.

And if you want to enable this dysfunction police comment on this video that you want us to do a little fashion montage.

This is actually a cry for help to no.

I think we do a link and people then can then donate to our and then we see how much money people give us to do it.

I'm not asking anybody for money work, I'm not.

This is and this is this is how you get a head life.

Maybe actually speaking of I saw Alyssa this weekends.

We love her.

How do we describe Alissa?

Describe Alyssa for the viewers at home?

Alyssa is our very very close mutual friend.

She's like a really good friend.

If you want to do something because Alissa is down for whatever, Yes, she's down for whatever.

Hey Alissa, let's go to croat show.

Yes?

And I do I get the sense that like her.

Her doorman like doesn't know what she looks like because she's never home, like she's always out like she's she's never out in these streets.

Yeah, I have to tell you I track Alyssa.

And yeah, because for her own safety.

Her own I'm not even for her own safety.

I am oftentimes worried about where she is.

Has anybody seen her where?

Melissa will text me in the middle the night and she'll be like, I can't sleep just checking have you heard from Melissa recently?

I do feel like we should probably keep an eye on her, as is Alyssa taught me how to be chaotic.

That is who she is in my life.

She's sort of like, uh, like the personification of like the Winchester Mystery Home.

Like she's just sort of like stove is on keys her out.

I went to her apartment once and there was like all this broken glass in front of the building and I was like, ooh, rough neighborhood.

It was like the West Village, right.

I go into the apartment and she had dropped something.

I was like, there's so much broken glass and she was like, oh, yeah, I dropped like a whole back of groceries out there earlier.

That was me, like a two hundred person unit and it was her.

Yeah, But I did see her.

I took her to a drag Queen's birthday party.

We went to Miss Mam.

She again let me just one second, I was not invited.

No, and then for your own protection and safety, you would have knock gone out at midnight on a Friday night.

Oh for sure.

No.

But yeah, but but ask me no.

I don't want to be told no one more time.

Get my hopes up, get all excited about.

You won't get your hopes.

Because you know better, right, because you know I'm probably not coming.

But I would like to be included.

Okay, okay, okay, I'll just it was also like deep in Brooklyn and you don't live anywhere near that, No, I don't.

You would have been like this is this is a four hour flight for me to get there from where.

When I first started dating my now husband, I was living in Brooklyn and he was not.

And it felt like a long distance relationship.

It really really did.

And I mean it really wasn't that far, but it felt.

What did we say it'd be like that?

It'd be like that, and it felt like behind God's back.

Brad lived in Hoboken.

Oh God, And when you have to transfer, when you have to cross state lines in interstate commerce like that.

It really does.

I was all the way in these village.

There was like no like clear transit.

It was it was.

It was actually really of him in the.

Ass any part of how did he got in trouble?

Just cross the day line.

We're three minutes into the episode and already come over?

Are you talking about ditty trafficking?

Okay, we're gonna go right into sidebars.

Okay, and I think we've got a nice natural entree into the ditty case beacause Melissa's mother, Magalie, throw up a photo of Magalie c J.

She is an icon.

She is the moment.

She is she, she is her, She.

Is all of my mother is we We We often say that my mom is the Queen of the Kingdom in her mind.

Yes, a legend.

She is every woman.

Yeah, it's all in her.

Yeah, it's all.

And she will never listen to the show she is.

She might if I tell her that we give her a shadow.

Okay, yeah, what is the department?

Ever?

Duneacy department?

She calls, I'm not going to do the ad, so I'll get canceled.

So my mom has always loved like a salacious legal case.

Sure right, I mean, who does it?

A lot of moms.

Do so, like I remember back in the day you were a child.

However, the O.

J.

Simpson case, my mother was living for this, oh.

Living for every mom in America.

Cut to Diddy, and my mom is just like.

Cut for thirty years of history, We're straight to did did She's.

Also really into like the what's his name Johnny depp one like she was.

Now she's got nothing but time, so I mean, we all strive to be returning.

So she was like, have you been watching the Didty case?

And I was like, to be honest, not really, I'm in and out or whatever.

And she's like, well, he's definitely going to go to jail.

This is before this was when it was first really hit in the headlines, and it was just like, yeah.

It's not looking very good for him and her.

Home, wasn't it.

It wasn't.

I mean it didn't end well for him.

I mean it ended better.

Than those those If someone drew a sketch of me the way those court reporters drew sketches of Diddy, just I would be on the evening news.

Michael Foot threw himself off a building an embarrassment.

That is that was so wicked, wild, diabolical, that was a crime in and of itself.

Drawnk you read what you saw, Sean what and also let me.

Let me I haven't heard someone say you reap what you sow, and quite sometimes I say that all the time.

It's very mel Gibson and signs like he's very much.

It is very much like this Bucolic imageriat of folks like we're in the fields growing corn.

You re what your saw, You read what you said.

That is such a that's an American farmer subsidy.

Shout out right there, Shout out to you all the American farmers working hard here in these in this country, in the Midwest.

So her whole thing was he's definitely going to jail.

And I was like, Okay, it's not looking good for him.

Why do you right?

Agreed, And Melissa called me and told me this, and I walked straight into the street with my dog.

Didn't look either.

I had the most uncomfortable conversation with my mother about water sports.

My mother was convinced that this man was going to go to jail because he had engaged in water sports.

This was in her mind make it clear this was the crime.

Was the crime.

And I was trying to explain to my mom.

I'm like, well, it's not some people like that.

No, Melissa, she's she's rewriting the legislation she was sports as as.

A federal people don't like that.

And I was just like, I mean, they might, and she was just like, no, he's going straight to jail for.

I should also process.

This is why he should go to jail.

She deserves it, I mean.

And again, back in the day Monica Lewinsky, my mom was in the car with my mom.

I will never forget at this.

Listen to some NPR show or something where they were talking about Monica Lewinsky's sexual past and Monica Lewinsky and I around the same age, give her take a year or two.

And I think it came out that before Bill, Monica had had like maybe two or three sexual partners beforehand.

And my mom was like a disgusting no.

And so I'm in the car with my mom and I'm driving and I am not making anything.

You can't move, no no, no, no, no no no no no no no, no no no.

And I went home and I called a friend of mine I locked the door.

I waited till she was.

My mom was upset that Monica Lewinsky has had like one or two guys, and she was like, did you keep your mouth shuts like firmly?

So this is who?

Well, first of all, I might I think I'm gonna meet Monica Lewinsky next week?

Can I know?

I'm I'll text you the details.

It's like it is like my friend anyway is getting me into me with her.

So I don't know if I can like sneak someone in.

But I won't bring you to the Drag Queen's birthday.

I will bring you to meet Monica.

Yeah, like pick and choose.

Yeah, I feel like that's equally you know, I.

Think if I have to choose, i'd rather meet Monica.

Well, okay, but let me explain the Drag Queen, Miss ma'am.

She she does a deadpan drag to like very hilarious songs like Ding Ding Ding Went the Trolley, But her face is like the whole time, and we'll throw up a clip, we'll throw and oh clang klang klang right right right.

We can't sing on the show because we'll get sued.

But she always has like a tag.

We can speak lyrics, that's copyright law.

She always has like the tag on her outfit.

Still it's like, still on this so good, it's so great.

You have a couple of drinks.

It's great.

Anyway, I'll bring you to meet Monica.

But Diddy.

The thing about that I was just so incredulous was Melissa's mother.

Each time she brought up one of the horrific things he was being charged with, right people testifying the awful testimony.

I mean, it was really it was terrible.

Yeah, Melissa's mother was like, but the water sports, that was what was really good because she couldn't get She.

Couldn't she refuses to believe that anybody could be into that, and I was trying to and then finally I was.

Like, I'm just like acutely aware of how much water I'm drinking right now as we're talking about.

Then let's listen.

That's fine.

I'm actually out.

Let's take a brief recess.

We're going to take a break.

Welcome back to brief Recess.

I'm Michael Foot, I'm Melissa Albrand.

This is under Earth.

We're going to take a deep dive into a case.

This one is actually really near and dear to me and my heart and a lot of what my day to day life looks like.

So I pictured it.

I thought it'd be cool to kind of talk to you about it.

The name of the case is Sarmiento I.

Tel Vi Perry et al.

So it's a classic lawsuit that the ACLU filed against ICE, effectively submitting a class action lawsuit of a group of miners who were seeking immigration status here in the US.

And we're not being given the opportunity to be bonded out of detention centers, so they were being held for long periods of time in detention centers.

Okay, And when you say minors, give me an idea.

Sure, Yeah, So anyone under the age of it, actually I think it might be twenty one is for Special Immigration Juvenile status.

It's people under the age of twenty one.

We call it SiGe as a shorthand.

But Special Immigration Juvenile status is a protected status that miners can seek in the US.

It's usually you have to prove certain things.

So one of them is that you were neglected, abandoned, or abused by a parent in your home country, So that can be you never had a relationship with your father and you don't know how man, it's no part of your life, or it can be that you know your parents have pandoned you.

Sometimes there are really extreme cases which are you know, a lot eas to kind of prove, and then there are others where it's like, I don't know who my father is and I'm going to be establishing custody in the US with a relative.

Okay, So it's usually just one parent that you could sort of have to prove that there was something abnormal about the relationship.

But the interesting thing that sort of came up in this case that I thought I could weigh in on was how important it is that people are bonded out hard stop, but especially in SiGe cases.

And that's because SIDGE is one of these things where you and your lawyer are running around the city to all sorts of different courts to get documentation, to get judgments, to get rulings from judges so that you can bring it back to immigration court and show them that like you're doing your due diligence.

For example, you usually have to go to family court, which is like in a different burrough sometimes where it takes a really long time to get that hearing date.

I've worked sedge cases.

It's taken years just to even get at like a date for your application to be reviewed.

Let me ask you this, what happens if somebody because if you said it takes years, sometimes what happens if the person ages out while this is going on?

That's a great question.

We're often dealing with, like hard deadlines.

I made a video recently about appeals and how we sort of the deadline is when the application is received, not when you submit it for certain things.

So deadlines are insane in any industry, but especially in immigration law.

The stakes are so high, right, So for SIDGE, it is when it's filed.

So even if there is a backlog in the government agency that you're working with, as long as it's the date that your attorney files it, you're still below the requisite age.

Okay, that is that's like such an important question because sometimes people are not sure about that.

But sure, so as long as the date that it was submitted is before you've aged out, then your should be okay in terms of moving forward with the case.

Exactly.

So in this case, the plaintiffs are suing Ice stating that they're being held without a bond, hearing and that it violates their Fifth Amendment do process rates, So they're not even given the opportunity to argue whether they should be bonded out of a detention center.

It is developing law.

By the time this episode airs, the law might have changed.

So the thing about this specifically is that there was a recent ruling in September where if you were not inspected so upon arrival in the US.

So let's say you arrived undocumented, you cross the border illegally, you don't have standing to seek bond in court if you are detained.

So that is like a new thing.

It's still being hammered out, it's being appealed, like it's going to work its way up through the courts.

But right now a lot of people are trying to get bonded out who crossed the border illegally, and this new ruling, this new case law that came down in September, has sort of messed with that.

So I have people reaching out to me for bond and I'm like, I honestly couldn't even file something for you if I wanted to, or if I had time to.

So I mean, I just wonder what especially, you know what happens to these people?

I mean, especially talking about kids, somebody who's the idea of somebody who's ten years old is sort of in this purgatory.

What happens to them?

It's a great question, and it's something that I think needs more attention, especially in the media.

I think oftentimes immigration law is like, ooh, that's so complicated.

Even lawyers will call me, Like this woman called me and she was like, the lady who does my nails just got arrested.

I'm a lawyer, but I don't know how to do this stuff.

Like immigration law is like one of the most complicated areas of law, and it's because of the decentralized nature of the government agencies that we're working with.

I mean, when I'm having someone fingerprinted, it gets sent to North Dakota.

When I file their BIA appeals, it goes to Church Falls, Virginia, Like it makes absolutely no sence.

I think what sort of happens is especially in these cases, like we're talking about child welfare here, like these are children being locked up and that they're being detained for an indeterminate amount of time.

I think, like public perception, public advocacy, people's people giving this any sort of energy or attention.

I think they'll sort of start to see, like how many awful things happen in attention centers, right, Like how many lawsuits are there around sexual violence attention centers?

So this is happening on us soil is I'm so glad to see that there is a lawsuit because I have to say, as an attorney, I'm really remiss reading the headlines that there aren't a lot of people talking about this.

There aren't a lot of law firms taking up cases and filing lawsuits like this.

There's been a chilling effect with the Trump administration where law firms are like, we are not going to be suing, we are not going after like they are afraid that they're going to be.

And what does it come down to.

It comes down to people's wallets, It comes down to the pocketbooks of these big firms, and they're not going after the government agencies and really having some sort of like stand right.

And it's helpful because it's like, I don't know, it kind of gets to the heart of like being an attorney for me, it's like why the fuck did you do this?

Then?

Like there's so many like faster ways to make money than being a lawyer, and you got into this to not help people, to not do the right thing, like we're supposed to be officers of the court where people who are supposed to be like ensuring justices served or seeking out justice or accountability is held somewhere right, and to then be like, well, it's going to hit our bottom line.

We don't want to be for the Trump administration.

It's like, well, then who the fuck are you?

If you're not going to be doing that, then what are you doing?

I wonder?

I'm excited I mean to be following this closely.

I do think there's a strong chance that there will be some sort of at least partial relief for the plaintiffs, mostly because the child welfare protections courts take that really seriously and there is sort of a pretty do process concern in this case.

People not I'm gonna be watching this close to the deceased, mostly because once there's a decision made, my day to day job as an attorney who handles bond hearings will change overnight.

It will be one of those rulings where I get to the courthouse and what I'm doing that day is something different than what I thought it was going to be and I'd live for that ship because I am a messy bitch and I do love a little bit of chaos every now and then.

I was born and raised by Alisa, our most chaotic friend.

You're a Taurus.

We're both tourists.

Yeah, I love that.

Let me ask you a question.

Yeah, they're in these detention centers with Are.

They like segregated from adults.

Yeah, that's actually a great question.

Anybody like I actually don't know because it is so impossible for attorneys to access clients who are being held at attention.

It's actually such a pain in the ass for me to even have all with the client who's detained.

And I sue.

I was part of a lawsuit with the ACLU a couple of years ago where we sued because I was like bored one summer during COVID, so I like worked with them.

I'm sus and I basically like feet.

I broke both my feet jogging.

Yes, it's laid up in casts just and what I would do is I would take a group of cases in different detention centers around the country, and I would attempt to get in contact with my client and then document how difficult it was, and all I was one of the layers.

All that information got fed into this lawsuit and they sued and one they were like, we like lawyers cannot access their clients, so it's really hard.

And detention centers are intentionally outside of city limits.

They're really far away from a metropolis to ensure that people cannot access legal council.

They're They're usually in like a wasteland.

I had to go to one in I think it was like in Alabama, and I had to fly into a different state.

I didn't want to drive, so I'm wealthy enough.

I hired a car to drive me there because I was like, God, I'm not going to be driving in the middle of northern Georgia, Alabama.

I had someone drive me just to just for one hearing.

It was crazy.

Yeah, I just keep thinking the idea of a kid being alone.

It's terrifying, and you know.

And somebody needs to be the voice for these kids.

Right, absolutely.

Yeah.

I think that my clients who are kids miners are the ones that I end up being closest with as well, because they like a social worker more than Yeah, totally.

Because they need the help more than any I mean, obviously anybody who's.

A lot sometimes like the lawyer is like the parent has trusted the lawyer to be there for that person.

I don't know that there are enough people who are going to law school who get into it because they really have this deep down desire to push the idea of like social justice or just justice in general.

No, it's true.

That is I'm going to go to law school and I am going to be a real estate lawyer because I want to make a ton of money, you know what I mean.

I mean, I think it's wonderful that you're thinking about it that way.

And Michael is not alone.

I know there are a lot of it.

I'm also not perfect, Like no, no, no, no, it's very easy to it's very easy to like lose your way, like I have lost my way many times in life, like as a lawyer, like even after graduation, where you know, you do sort of get dazzled by the dollars or you don't want to take that pro bono case because you are too busy, or like life happens, like people have families, like people get dogs, like uh, shake goes down, right, And so I just feel like I don't know, I want other lawyers to feel like it's cool for me to be like, hey, Michael, how do I get involved?

How'd you get started?

You know?

I get a lot of messages like that where people are like, hey, like how did you get your first?

Like pro bone?

Okay, so how do you learn how to do this stuff?

Like?

I wasn't always this psychopath that I am today?

No, I think you probably were always a psychopath, maybe not the one that you want today, however.

I think knocks on the tour.

I think that to your point.

I think sometimes there comes a point in everybody's life where you're like, you know what, I've done the thing that I'm going to do, right, Like I went to college or not or whatever, and now I have a job and I'm just sort of like plugging away.

I think about this a lot, right, What is going to be my other thing that I do that is helpful?

I think there comes a moment in your life where you're like, oh, you know what, I'm going to sit down.

I'm going to think about how I can help.

And for you as an attorney, you have this skill, you have this degree, and you were like, you know what, I now have the time and I'm now inclined.

When we talk to Congressman Garcia later, let's ask him.

You should ask him like what you can do, like what the differences are, because I think that could be cool to hear from someone in a position of power in the government of like what they think their constituents or just like civically engaged democrats can be doing to help.

What can we how can we be helped?

How do you help?

Now?

What do you what do you do to I mean, I know, like you volunteer, you go to protests, like you get involved.

You are like someone that I look to like you've helped me find my way many times.

But I don't know.

I think you're a wealth of advice and wisdom.

I mean I think so not speaking about sort of like helping people who need but in terms of like wealth of advice and wisdom.

I'm going to tell you what I think, no matter what, whether you want to hear it or not.

Right, Like, and I am a big I told you so person, which is not my best quality, but it is we are who we are, right And what's really funny is that, like I don't tell people I told them so nearly as often as I want to.

I like, keep it.

I tamp it down.

Yeah, she does it is can't help it.

I can't help it.

You had fucking skywriting.

I told you so for me one day.

Who the fuck do you think you are in on my show?

Sorry because I get a tattoo.

Wait, oh, I would do that.

I told you so.

I've got it.

Yeah, mine could just be she told me so.

I told him so.

In terms of helping, I will say that, yes, I go to protest, and yes I will.

I'm big on like reaching out to my congress person.

I you know, I've sent letters to my governor and my mayor.

But I will tell you that I struggle often with not knowing exactly what to do because I feel like what I want to do is something that I think will push the needle right, Like what can I do?

Who can I help?

Even if it's like one person, right, who can I help?

It's the thing of helpless, this that I think everyone is feeling right now, even like someone who I'm very much in a position to do something right, But.

You do it.

Yeah.

I was out running, I was I was traveling, and I was out jogging in my hometown and on the corner of like the little main street and it's like this like little tiny little town on Long Island.

There were all these retirees who had like no kings posters and they were protesting.

And I was talking to them.

It's the North Fork Women for Women Fund whips, that is their name.

I am not I'm not having a stroke whips, okay.

And they were telling me that they they take shifts every day.

They're on that corner working shifts protesting.

I was like, this is amazing.

I love this so much.

And they were how do I like nicely described they were retired women of a certain age, sure, and they're there are no like young startup retirees who retired at thirty.

But I feel like a lot of people their age probably are feeling like they can't do anything or they cannot get involved in it.

It was just like such a cool example where I was like, look at these batties, look at these icons.

Anyway, this has been under oath.

Let's take a break.

So Melissa, I'm really excited because Congressman Garcia is joining us today.

I can't wait.

He's the former mayor of California.

Yeah, and he's the US representative from California's forty second district.

He's been there since twenty twenty three.

He's actually immigrant himself from Peru, so it would be really interesting to talk to him about Ice, what's happening there, what he's doing as a congress person to sort of advocate for immigrant communities.

Also the first openly gay immigrant in Congress, which is very cool.

He I think he was undocumented at one point when he first emigrated, So it's a very cool, interesting sort of entree into American politics.

What he's sort of working on, I think will inform how Americans really engage with the news cycle, right.

I mean, we're always talking about how can we ensure that people are typically engaged and have real next step action items.

I feel like a lot of what's happening in American democracy right now is like, well, it's just terrible and nothing to do, just nothing.

Yeah, yeah, And I think it'll be cool to kind of talk to him and be able to really say like.

Hey, and I love the fact that, you know, I think it also helps when people can see themselves in their elected officials.

So the fact that he is an immigrant, the fact that he's you know, openly gay, like all those things I think sort of help put the information out.

I also love a fair Steva who's like, I'm going to let my identity govern like how I entered the workplace, how I enter like use my work.

I'm sick of this whole, like my life is separate from my job.

It ain't.

I'm a fair Steve in the courtroom as well as at home.

I'm winning arguments in my kitchen.

Are you though?

Somebody called on the.

Phone getting impeached in my phone.

I't red on the phone.

Oh all right, Congressman, all right, shut up, Congressman's college, I got to stop talking.

Welcome to brief resess, Congressman.

Hey, guys, Hi Congressman.

Congressman, thank you for joining us.

I know that we actually just got the press release of what you've been working on of the new legislation.

So why don't you take us in of what you've sort of been focused on today.

It sounds like, I mean, obviously.

There's a lot going on, and I'm the horrors of the trip administration never end.

Today we're really focused on and trying to really zero in just the horrific actions by the administration.

Certainly Secretary now I'm Stephen Miller, and what's happening with ICE across the country.

There are two things that we're looking at right now.

One is, we've all been reading the reports of the now upwards of one hundred and seventy US citizens that have now been detained, in many cases sent to these facilities by ICE and by other federal agents and who essentially have stories of being in the centers for days and days without any access to lawyers or family because they didn't have the idea.

And these are US citizens who are being targeted racially profile because of the color of their skin.

And we know that now if ICES is doing this to US citizens, you can imagine how others are being treated at these centers and facilities.

And so we have a broad investigation going right now through Oversight into Christinoum into their actions across the country.

But we're also especially partnering with the Senate and the Senate's oversight team and Senator Blumenthal and US are specifically going to do a joint bi cameral investigation into what's happening to United States citizens across this country as well.

You know what I've told folks is, look, what's happening to citizens is horrific, but also reminding people that what's happening to non citizens they also have new process rights and the Constitution is so clear correctly and so we have a lot of work to do.

But we were in LA with Mayor Bass making that announced with today.

And it's interesting you bring this up.

I really wanted to talk to you about what specifically does that mean?

Right?

I think we oftentimes hear in the news like we're investigating this, we're looking into this bi cameraalism.

Could you get specific about, like what does that literal to do list look like when you get to the office, right, Like walk us through it, because I think it's important for people to hear these words have almost become pointless to a lot of Americans.

Oh, we're investigating, Oh there's an oversight committee.

Oh we're going to be looking into it.

I think we've been used and abused in so many ways as Americans that these words have sort of like lost value.

So I want people to hear, like exactly what you're doing, because I know you, I know your team, I know you've been working on this, and I understand it on like a granular level from the courtroom.

But I think it's important for people to hear really what that means for you.

Absolutely, No, this is great because I also I love explaining kind of how overside.

Yeah, so I think process matters, right, Like, what's the process?

I think it's so important.

Let me so, there's two pieces of this I think are important, and that is how and who is leading the investigations and then what we're actually trying to accomplish and do.

So let me let me start by saying, Look, I've been the lead Democrat on the Oversight Community.

Oversight Committee in the US House is the lead investigations committee that exists under a constitution under it in the US Congress, and so obviously the job of Congress is oversight, and oversight is where most of the major investigations end up.

Now, I'm a I'm a pretty new newer member to the Congress.

I was mayor of lum Beach, California for eight years.

I got to Congress now a little over two years ago, and so I was not the most senior person to take on this job.

And I think in my pitch to the Democratic Cocke, I said, look, we have to we have to do things differently.

We got to bring rage.

We need people to be more aggressive.

We need to bring that fight that Republicans bring to these investigations, and you know, the pitched work.

I'm the first sophomore to lead a committee in one hundred years in the US.

And I mentioned that because I think what you said is really true that oftentimes we will launch an investigation or folks will say they're going to hold folks accountable, and then it just gets lost in kind of Washington speak.

Right, or we hear about it like two years later that they kind of found something but they weren't really, and it just it does get kind of lost in the wash there.

It does.

And that is not me first, Like I first, I am an imprint myself, and so this is very personal to me, and it's something that I know.

I've lived through the experience, I've been undocumented.

I understand what the live experiences.

And then the second piece is I think people just should take you know, I've been lead on investigations now for about maybe three or almost four months, three four months in the Congress for Democrats, and I show people what we've just done on the Epstein files, for example, we are getting so much information out on the Epstein files because we're being aggressive and we're not waiting to be in the majority.

And so the way oversight works is when you are in the minority.

So Democrats are in the minority in Congress.

We always have limited powers.

We don't have subpoena power, We don't have powers to get a new document we want or anyone from the committee.

But we still can't investigate on our own, and so that's what we're doing now.

We're not waiting to be the majority to investigate.

However, when we do win the majority in twenty twenty six, you can believe that we will be sending out subpoenis and getting information from christinew On, from Stephen Miller, from folks that are from home, and just a variety of folks that we are interested in.

But the work has to start now.

So that's a little bit about kind of why we have to bring new people into the party and at the table and leading these committees is because a new approach is also needed.

And then at the second piece is it is still in the minority.

These investigations have enormous the enormous ability to also help in many of the court cases that are happening, so we partner with folks.

That's just what I was going to say.

Papering the record documentation exactly so that court cases can move forward with.

That documentation is so important to put out into the public record what's actually happening in what we know.

And so many of the successful cases that are happening right now in the courts actually reference or use many of the investigations or the documents that we are requesting of agencies.

To build the case.

And so it's all very important work.

I wanted to ask you because on the show, we really like to focus on ways that everyday Americans or other attorneys can get involved to do something.

I think so much of the internet, so much of the news cycle is doomed, scrolling, it is getting lost in the weeds.

It is, you know, articles about literally how America is headed towards fascism with no actual action, items on what people can do, how they can get involved, things that they can do to flex their democratic muscles.

What would you where do you need me an immigration attorney?

Right?

Like?

What would do your advice be to me an immigration attorney?

Or to meet Melissa who is a civically engaged democrat like, not.

An attorney, but you know, I care very much about what's happening in my community.

I also come from an immigrant family.

What can I do?

Where do you need us?

Like?

And I think it's so important that people really hear from leadership right like what can we be doing boots on the ground to support these efforts?

So so two things.

So one is obviously there's some I'm gonna talk to difficultly about what specifically you can do to help we're doing on the investigation side.

So that's one piece of it broadly speaking there And I.

Was just right now with maybe fifty kind of immigation community activists and leaders from different groups that are on the ground doing this work right now in Los Angeles, and there they are modeling just the behavior.

We're talking about attorneys that are working with immigration groups.

We're talking about immigration advocates that are trying to visit these detention centers.

We're talking about folks that are doing rapid response on the ground.

We're talked to folks that are just donors that are donating to kind of these rapid response networks.

I talk to faith leaders who are bringing in parishioners who are out communicating and working with families that are oftentimes even too scared to leave their home.

And so I have found that in every community there is a group or people that are actually doing this work.

Whether it's a local church, whether it's a local immigration organization, whether it's a group of lawyers that are doing some pro bono work or working within the legal space.

There's a lot of ways to get involved broadly.

Specifically, our Oversight Committee is doing two things people can get directly engaged.

One is in in the next few weeks, you're going to hear we'll put this and put this out.

We're going to be launching the a massive kind of one stop ICE and information tracker.

For the That's great, Okay, that's so great.

That is going.

We need it, absolutely, I need it, and.

It doesn't exist right now.

And so we want to make sure that we are tracking every instance of abuse and terror that is being right now put out and being done every day by ICE and by.

Critical moment folks.

And so we're working and building that right now, and we have some groups that are that are assisting us with that as well.

So folks will be able to submit video information to this track or so that we can keep all of the information also and from a national perspective in.

That's so important.

So most as someone who gets so many people reaching out to me for help, that is ninety percent of the things are just info sharing.

You don't actually need an immigration attorney half the time, but just people are just trying to figure out what's going on.

And I think that's really important.

Exactly, So that's going to be a way for people to be able to communicate with us directly and send us information so that we have it on able to share it into the public record.

The second piece, and I know this sounds so but you said it earlier, just for for purposes of winning in the courtroom.

We have to not just win obviously public opinion.

We have win in the courtroom need and first of all in the courtroom, and we have to document and we need to build the case.

And it takes work, and it takes putting all this It.

Does it really does for people who don't and so and.

For us in Congress that it's it's critical for us to have all this information.

The second piece, which we announced today is we're going to be launching some field hearings that will be happening in communities across the country.

Our very first one is going to be in Los Angeles.

We will be announcing the date hopefully here in the next.

Okay, Yeah, that'd be great.

Share it with us, we can put it out on the channel.

It's great.

And what the fuel hearing is going to be an opportunity for members of Congress in the community to come together and listen to testimony from people in the community.

And we're going to also provide ways where folks can do it in a way that thinks that that we're keeping their safety in mind as well.

But it's going to be an opportunity for there to be actual the stories and actions that are happening.

And information needs to be shared with us.

We're going to go into the community as well, and so the very first one will be in Los Angeles.

It'll be I think it's quite exciting, and so that's something also.

Yeah, that's incredible.

Yeah, definitely going into the communities is so important.

I mean, so much of what happens in immigrant communities from my experience just as a guest, right is word of mouth.

Yeah, Oh, for sure, that is the biggest way I mean, is family coming from Haiti.

That's how we learned about everything.

You heard it from someone's aunt, someone's cousin, a friend, etc.

So that's how you really get the word out.

And I think when it comes from your own community, you tend to trust that information.

Right, So thank you so much for joining us.

I know you're the mayor of Long Beach.

We've got a Long Beach here in Long Island.

It's a little bit different, but to say thank you and the first openly gay immigrant congressman, is that right?

Right?

That's all correct?

Okay, all right?

So who's your favorite drag queen in Long Beach, California.

We're gonna actually we're gonna venmo Her in your honor.

Thank you.

I'm gonna vemo Her one hundred dollars.

What's her name?

Jules Jewels Long Beach is my favorite drag queen in Long Beach.

Jewels, Long Beach.

I got wait for Jewels Long Beach to wake up at four pm and be like, who the hell is this guy is sending me?

Congressman Garcia, send him under Carson Garcia's name.

So Jewels, Long Beach go find her on venmo or cat shop and send her some money.

Tip your drag queens.

Thank you Congressman for joining us so much.

For joining us.

Appreciate thank you, Bye bye, so tails from the d M friends.

Please remember, while Michael is a lawyer, he is not your.

Lawyer unless you want to hire me.

I mean that's a difference.

I am for Everyone has a price, and I'm actually pretty cheap.

Just got to ask any of my ex boyfriends ask me.

This is Maggie from O Hi, and I was wondering if you could explain to me what's happening with banning of bird control pills in this country from a legal perspective.

I keep reading about it, but I would love to know in a simple way, what is actually happening and how.

Likely this is?

Okay, great question, this is.

This is an interesting one because it's I always feel bad when I have to answer these because it really is it depends half the time, like it really does depend on the state you're in.

Yeah, so right now, birth control is not being banned in the US.

I think there is.

It's always like the threat of restricting contraceptives for women is always sort of a topic that continues to come up, and it is very much.

These Republicans leap on any opportunity to sort of keep women down, down right, And it always anything we talk about, it is always poor people who experience the worst, right, people who are experiencing poverty.

Who who don't have access, who.

Don't have access, are It's a way to ensure that poor people remain poor and that the rich poor gap grows.

So federal law and Supreme Court precedent still protect the right to get contraceptives.

There is a very famous Supreme Court President Griswold versus Connecticut.

It's from nineteen sixty five, as well as Eisenstadt be Baared it's nineteen seventy two.

So these are the Supreme Court precedents that protect a woman's right to come for contraceptives.

I don't know why I can't say that word because you don't have to.

I guess because I've never gotten one than pregnant, and never even would be in a situation where that would happen.

Never.

We can get into it.

We'll do that in the off we'll do that the b sides, the brief recests.

After dark, we'll get into that.

The end scene seventeen after eleven PM.

Do you remember when VH VH one or MTV, it was like it was like at night it would become softcore porn.

It was blue, it was it was a little it was go blue.

Yeah, anyway, moving on.

Are you okay?

We got it?

We really got I love when I dag our producer where we got the going because they have to listen to me yapp all day, so busy your Basically, if contraceptives were under fire, it would get worked up through the court system and eventually go to the Supreme Court and those precedents be argued against.

I would hope that in a situation like this there would be extreme public outrage, like this really would be even right now with the ways in which Republicans are restricting access to abortion, it's going to be different.

And that's right.

A man went on the record and said the word abortion.

I know it doesn't happen that often, but you know, they have to be really creative with how they do it, right they say, oh, like the fire code or oh it's going to be a certain number are still within the state, even though they're like eight hours apart, Like, they still have to be kind of creative thinkers when they're trying to do evil, so the same would sort of happen with contraceptives.

And also like the sort of expansive nature of America, we think about this a lot with the commerce clause, right, like interstate commerce, the transportation of contraceptives across state lines.

I know of people who after the election were like stocking up on plan and be in New York and like mailing it to southern states.

So it will be something interesting to watch.

I haven't really seen it come up that much, but it is a very curious question, Thank you, Maggie, It really is.

I actually wonder what's going to happen, especially you know most of the sort of now the Republican Party and Maga Republicans, they're very much on this.

You know, we're doing this with God behind us.

And there is this theory for a lot of religion sort of across the board, right, like make lots of babies, make lots of babies.

The last thing, I am happily childless, and maybe we'll add that to my next tattoo as well, that you are childless by choice.

We come to this place to talk about, Yes, exactly, you have the choice.

Yes, I have all the choices.

I'm a white man in a suit.

I can get away with pretty much anything.

Just about you have kids, You've got a family.

Do you want to tell people about your life and your choices?

Do not have any biological children.

I do have a stepdaughter who is lovely, and she and I get along really well.

And I love other people's kids.

That's who I am.

I am perpetually aka Auntie Lisa.

That's who I am.

I am the uncle.

Well, my husband Brad is like the fun uncle with the kids, but I'm the uncle where you know, if you are beefing at school or you need someone to help you buy beer, don't you can't call me.

I would never do that.

I would absolutely never teach you how to room.

Do not abide.

I only roll ankles, not joints.

He's rolled a couple of ankles.

Both both at the same time.

No, you've never seen me wear pleasers.

Hi, this is Daisy from Los Angeles.

I'm Daisy first of all, voiceover actress, love right.

And Daisy's a really good name, whether or not it's your real name or not.

I don't I imagine Daisy.

What do we think Daisy looks like?

Immediately in my head days for me is a Latina, right, I think, And I think she's got her Chola makeup down.

I love.

She's from the South Bronx.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think.

Well, she says she's from lah, so I think she's from South La.

Okay, Okay, yeah, I don't know the neighborhoods in LA that well.

Okay, but that's who I think.

I think Davy Daisy is Fearce and I think she has got a hookie's right.

No, I think that's right.

I think we could open like a whole like booth at a state fair of us, just like based on people's voices, guessing what they look like.

So maybe submit a question and we'll guess what you look like.

Anyway.

I feel like there's so much in the news about Trump trying to pardon pe Ditty or Gallaine Maxwell.

We not the Ditty, shout out not again.

No.

I also wonder why they keep on saying that Glayne Maxwell.

I feel like everybody's mispronouncing her name.

My I had an aunt who's that was her name?

Yeah, and that's not how you say it?

How do you say it?

I don't know who Gallaine is all over.

Like Gallaine Galaine Gulaine is such like a clunky flat footage.

Right, We've got yeah, we've got a big flat foot stomp in the street.

It's Gallaine.

But go ahead, sorry, go ahead.

And I'm wondering, is there any interesting cases that previous presidents have ever pardoned before?

Are really controversial ones in the past.

We are these particularly insane.

I mean, to try and compare American history to what's happening right now is impossible.

This is not really We are sort of living in like the different timeline.

None of this is real.

This is a simulation.

There have been a lot of pardons in the past that were like, I mean, pardons are always a little bit controversial.

I remember Chelsea Manning's pardoningeople were like, oh my god, but the arp springing like there's always sort of like the opposition is always saying, you know, it's usually.

One of those things that our president does on their way out.

Yes, yeah, like Roger Stone trumped about in twenty twenty, Paul Maniford, Michael Flynn was in twenty twenty.

There was a whole sort of like crop of controversial pardons.

I mean, Biden pardoned his son like that was.

Dad if you're watching, you better pardon my ass.

If you're ever in office, I want a pardon.

I might send my kids to the clink.

You do just out here sullying the family name.

Tell the story of when your dad on a jury.

We might not have enough time for this, enough to wait for the next episode.

We'll do it next time, Okay.

Well, yes, there are a lot of examples of this happening throughout history.

None of them are as insane as none of them have anything to do with human trafficking of minors.

So that is sort of a why old thing.

If Trump does decide to pardon, say her name.

Just Len Maxwell, thank you so much.

Uh huh, so that would be unprecedented in such a way that we would probably need a new word that is a synonym for unprecedented that hasn't been invented yet.

Anyway, those are the weirdest things people sent me today.

Thank you so much, Congressman Garcia for coming on the show today.

I had a great time talking to you.

I always have a good time song.

I'm glad we got we got it all on the record about ditty trial.

Maybe we'll do a whole Didty episode.

Maybe.

Thank you for watching Brief Recess.

I'm Michael Foot now Melissa malbranch I'll.

See you're ass in court.

This has been an Exactly Right production recorded at iHeart Studios, hosted by me, Michael Foot and.

Me Melissa Malbranch.

Our producer is CJ.

Ferroni.

This episode was edited by Nicholas Galucci.

Our associate producer is Christina Chamberlain and our guest booker is Patria Cottner.

Our theme song was composed by Tom Briifogel with artwork from Charlotte Delarue Manessa Lilac with photography by Brad Obono.

Recess is executive produced by Karen Kilgareff, Georgia hart Stark and Danielle Kramer.

You can find me on Instagram at Department of Redundancy Department or on TikTok at Michael Foot.

And I'm on both Instagram and TikTok as Melissa Albranch.

Got legal questions, reach out at Brief Recess at exactlyrightmedia dot com.

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