Podcast Summary: Future Hindsight

Episode: The Pathway to Citizenship: Todd Schulte

Date: October 16, 2025
Host: Mila Atmos
Guest: Todd Schulte, President of Forward Us

Main Theme

This episode explores the current American immigration crisis, the legal and political underpinnings of recent crackdowns, the erosion of due process for immigrants and citizens of color, and tangible strategies for civic action and hope. Todd Schulte, as president of Forward Us, articulates both the urgent situation under the current administration and actionable ideas for reform, emphasizing the fundamental importance of a legal pathway to citizenship.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. How Did We Get Here?

• Host’s Framing: The episode opens with a sense of crisis—ICE raids, National Guard deployments, and widespread fear in immigrant communities ([00:00]-[02:38]).
• Schulte’s Historical Context:
  • The US has alternated between restrictive and open immigration phases, often based on political winds ([02:38]).
  • Comprehensive immigration reform (the “grand compromise”) failed in the last decade, leading to today’s fear-driven, enforcement-heavy environment.
  • “...we have found ourselves is a system in which to spread fear and to consolidate power down to, like, the memes of cruelty.” (Schulte, [04:42])

2. What Actually Works?

• Permanent Legal Status is Key
  • Legal and permanent status, not just stopgap protections, is what ultimately protects and empowers immigrants ([06:52]).
  • The system is broken not because people do not want to “get in line”, but because there is no meaningful line to join.
  • “The most important protection we can give people is legal status, permanent legal status, a pathway to citizenship.” (Schulte, [06:54])

3. The Legal Landscape

• Barriers to Legalization: “Bars to Adjustment of Status”

  • US law (the three- and ten-year bars) traps millions in limbo: undocumented people must leave the country for up to 10 years before reapplying for status ([09:18]-[12:02]).
  • “There is no line to get into... That's a broken law. That is an unjust law.” (Schulte, [10:53])

• Temporary Status & the DREAMers

  • DACA and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) are both limited, temporary, and under threat ([14:02]).
  • People from war-torn countries or disaster zones are especially vulnerable as TPS is rescinded.

4. The Venezuelan Crisis: A Case Study

• Failure to Modernize Channels
  • 9 million people fled Venezuela in the largest peacetime refugee crisis in the Western Hemisphere ([15:33]).
  • US response was to push asylum-seekers to the dangerous border crossing route, overwhelming courts and cities.
  • Schulte critiques both Democratic and Republican administrations for lack of proactive solutions.

5. Reclaiming the “North Star”

• Values-Based Reform
  • America can be both a magnet for global talent and a beacon for refugees, but must modernize pathways, rights, and processes ([19:45]-[23:31]).
  • Importance of flexible, all-levels-of-government action—local, state, Congress, executive order ([23:10]).
  • “We should have an immigration system that when people come, they are able to fully contribute to their communities and their families here.” (Schulte, [07:59])

6. Escalating Harm & the Scale of the Crisis

• Accelerating Enforcement
  • Administration is stripping away constitutional protections and funding enforcement over support; intimidation is rising ([26:46]).
  • The numbers are murky, with inflated claims of “2 million deported”—actually a data manipulation involving response rates ([29:41]-[33:11]).
  • “They're pumping their numbers. They like to do the memes, they like to do that stuff.” (Schulte, [30:45])

7. Economic Impacts & Industry Response

• Labor Market Reality
  • Immigrants fill hard-to-replace jobs on both the low and high ends of the skills spectrum.
  • Industry response is still muted compared to the prior Trump administration, though growing in urgency ([34:00]).
  • “Nobody's coming over the hill who is going to come in and make problems go away... people gotta speak up.” (Schulte, [35:47])

8. Supreme Court and the Erosion of Rights

• Greenlighting Racial Profiling
  • A recent SCOTUS decision allows ICE to detain based on race, accent, and type of work—worsening risk for all brown/black Americans ([36:48]).
  • Rising use of the “shadow docket” sidesteps due process, emboldening executive overreach ([37:39]).
  • “The idea that it is somehow constitutional that we can racially profile people, that we can arrest US citizens... is absolutely the wrong approach.” (Schulte, [38:49])

9. Action Steps: “Civic Spark”

• Local, Tangible Action

  • Schulte urges listeners to start local: use their role in workplaces, communities, or congregations to disseminate “Know Your Rights” resources and ask employers about legal support for immigrants ([41:08]).
  • Forward Us provides resources for organizations to support immigrant members.

  “There's just things you can do to be like a little bit better at protecting people from the harmful immigration system... post Know Your Rights materials, talk to HR, connect people to legal resources...” (Schulte, [41:15])

• Host’s Summary: “Just put one foot in front of the other and start local.” (Atmos, [44:51])

10. Grounds for Hope

• Grassroots Resilience
  • Schulte finds hope in people’s desire to engage locally and learn how to defend their communities.
  • “That's the thing that I'm, I think, most hopeful about is people who, on issues that I've worked on for a long time are looking and saying, you know what? I want to understand and I want to do a better job just knowing what I can do to stand up for people there.” (Schulte, [44:01])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Fear and Systemic Cruelty:
  • “We are all going to be better off if people can live, thrive and survive. But instead, what we have found ourselves is a system in which to spread fear and to consolidate power down to, like, the memes of cruelty.” (Schulte, [04:21])
• On Broken Legal Pathways:
  • “There is no line to get into... That's a broken law. That is an unjust law.” (Schulte, [10:53])
• On Economic Myths:
  • “They wanna tell you that deporting immigrants is gonna solve all your problems. Housing’s gonna get cheaper, it’s gonna make your wages grow up, your back pain’s gonna go away, your hair’s gonna regrow. All they gotta do is deport immigrants.” (Schulte, [31:23])
• On Local Action:
  • “There are just things you can do to be like a little bit better at protecting people... start local.” (Schulte, [41:15])
• On Hope:
  • “I've been there when people have said we're going to stand up and protect our community there. And that gives me hope.” (Schulte, [44:14])

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:38] – Schulte sketches the history and failure of comprehensive immigration reform
• [06:52] – Why permanent legal status is the “most important protection”
• [09:18] – Explanation of the three- and ten-year bars and why “getting in line” is usually impossible
• [15:33] – Venezuela and the consequences of not modernizing immigration
• [19:45] – Articulating America’s “North Star” for immigration
• [26:46] – The new scale and speed of enforcement; attacks on constitutional rights
• [29:32] – Addressing the dubious “2 million deported” number
• [34:00] – The true economic role of immigrants and business community’s muted response
• [36:48] – Supreme Court’s greenlighting of racial profiling, use of “shadow docket”
• [41:08] – Civic Spark: tangible steps for local action and supporting immigrants
• [44:01] – Grounds for hope: rising local engagement and demand for tools

Conclusion

This urgent, articulate episode provides clarity on the roots and realities of America’s current immigration crisis, with a laser focus on the North Star of a fair pathway to citizenship. Schulte’s perspective weaves together history, legal realities, and actionable guidance for local civic engagement, offering both sobering truths and authentic grounds for hope.