Podcast: The Melting Pod (LS 28 · TOP 10% what is this?)
Episode: Biden and the Border (Part 1), with Charanya Krishnaswami
Pub date: 2026-02-23

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Nobody’s happy with how the Biden administration handled the U.S./Mexico border, but it’s hard to find an honest reckoning.

That’s why you need to hear the story of Charanya Krishnaswami, a senior advisor at the Department of Homeland Security during all four of those tumultuous years. She’s brilliant, insightful, and even hilarious – all while pulling back the curtain on how so many smart people struggled to make good decisions.

This episode is Part 1 of Charanya’s story, starting on day one of the Biden administration and taking us through the mounting panic of the second year…

Learn More

Amanda, Claire, and Doug express their own personal opinions on The Melting Pod. This episode was produced by Michael Palmer (⁠palmer.media⁠). Read more about the topics in this episode:

* How the Other Side Leaves - This American Life visits a refugee camp in Tijuana, Mexico filled with Ukrainians fleeing the war (05.06.2022)

* Coins depicting Border Patrol agent grabbing Haitian migrant trigger investigation - Los Angeles Times (06.16.2022)

* The Voyage of the St. Louis - Museum of Jewish Heritage (May 5, 2022)

Give More

Want to help build a more sane and humane immigration system? Support hardworking organizations like these:

National:

* ⁠#AfghanEvac⁠ – working to ensure the U.S. keeps its promise to our Afghan allies

* ⁠Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project⁠ – the country’s largest membership organization of asylum seekers, working together for change

* ⁠Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI)⁠ – organizing and advocating for racial, social and economic justice

* ⁠Haitian Bridge Alliance⁠ – providing humanitarian, legal, and social services

* ⁠International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP)⁠ - strategic litigation and advocacy to uphold the rights of people seeking safety

* ⁠Justice Action Center⁠ - immigrant justice through litigation and storytelling

Local:

* ⁠Al Otro Lado⁠ - legal and humanitarian support to refugees, deportees, and other migrants in the U.S. and Tijuana

* ⁠Catholic Charities Rio Grande Valley⁠ - providing assistance to the poor and most vulnerable populations in the Rio Grande Valley community

* ⁠Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center⁠ - free and low-cost legal services to immigrants and refugees in West Texas, New Mexico, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

* ⁠Support an immigration service provider near you⁠

Chapters

(00:00:00) Intro

(00:00:32) Biden and the border – many failures, no simple heroes or villains

(00:02:29) Why you need to hear Charanya Krishnaswami

(00:04:47) Honest post-mortems are good; acronyms are bad

(00:06:51) 2021: Starting up a new presidential administration … via Zoom

(00:11:24) Biden did not reverse all of Trump’s immigration policies on day one

(00:14:17) What is Title 42?

(00:17:23) Why no president can “just shut down the border”

(00:21:13) We have asylum laws for a reason; remember the St. Louis

(00:23:31) How the Title 42 border rules made everything worse

(00:29:27) COVID, lawsuits, and chaos

(00:31:25) What happened when Haitian refugees arrived in Del Rio

(00:36:44) Why did Border Patrol feel betrayed?

(00:39:01) 2022: Attempted solution #1: The Asylum Officer Rule

(00:49:31) Why did this solution die on the vine?

(00:51:39) The vibe shift: Make Number Go Down

(00:55:24) Freakout as the pandemic is ending

(00:58:31) A strange and obscure silver lining

(01:00:36) Attempted solution #2: The Transit Ban

(01:02:49) “Skim milk protection”

(01:05:22) What happened when Ukrainian refugees arrived in Tijuana

(01:11:34) Conclusion (until Part 2…)

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