Upheaval at the Department of Homeland Security

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Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen (C) and commissioner for Customs and Border Patrol Kevin McAleenan (L) walk with U.S. President Donald Trump during a visit to a section of the border wall in Calexico California, U.S., April 5, 2019. Picture taken April 5, 2019. Photo credit: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

News stories say President Trump is frustrated by his appointees’ failure to stop the surge of families and asylum seekers entering the United States. While the level of total unauthorized border crossings is not unprecedented, the level of crossings by these kinds of people appears to be -- and because of the government’s limited ability to detain, rapidly deport or adjudicate families and asylum seekers, the crisis there continues to escalate.

The power struggle within the Trump administration over immigration also appears to be dialing back up the White House leak wars. The Washington Post reported this week the White House twice proposed to release detainees in small- and mid-size cities with sanctuary city policies, an effort to use human beings to troll the libs. Alex Nowrasteh of the Cato Institute joins the panel to discuss DHS leadership, what's ahead for the agency and immigration policy ideas from a libertarian perspective. Should there be a policy that limits immigration at all? Should visas have a price tag determined by the market? 

Then Vanessa Williamson of the Brookings Institution joins to talk about the first tax season under the new tax law. How do Americans think about the new law, and do they still believe paying taxes is their civic duty? And does reforming how we file and pay our taxes have a chance?

Plus: Julian Assange has been arrested. What's next for him, and should his arrest make free speech advocates concerned? And Attorney General Bill Barr said in a Senate hearing this week that the 2016 Trump campaign was spied on by the government. Should the investigators be investigated?

Credits

Guests:

Producer:

Sara Fay