Twenty-two states and D.C. are suing the Trump administration over a new rule that could make it harder for immigrants to get green cards if they use benefits like Medicaid or food assistance. To discuss, we FEATURE Jill Habig. Habig is a former civil rights prosecutor and policy advisor to Kamala Harris, and the founder and president of Public Rights Project (PRP). PRP works with local governments and community partners to help ensure that laws are enforced equitably and civil rights are protected, including workers rights, voting rights, immigrant rights, housing rights, and more. Since 2022 they have been on the frontlines of ongoing state & local legal fights to protect reproductive rights across the country. Habig's work emphasizes consumer fraud, corporate power, health, and civil rights, including issues related to gender and LGBT rights. Media includes: USA Today, The 19th, Daily Kos, Fortune Broadsheet, Washington Post, Reuters, CNN.

Mahmoud Khalil is suing Columbia University, accusing the school of failing to protect him and other pro-Palestinian activists from harassment and retaliation, which he says contributed to his detention by ICE. To discuss, we FEATURE Laboni Hoq. Hoq is an experienced civil rights lawyer whose practice draws from her over twenty-year career successfully litigating high-profile cases on behalf of workers, immigrants and those seeking government accountability. Hoq was lead counsel in James v. City of South Pasadena, a case against a police department that violated the Constitutional rights of peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters when it acted in complicity with White supremacist vigilantes who perpetrated hate crimes against them. She was also lead attorney in Hamdan v. U.S. Dept. of Justice, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case that won disclosure of documents concerning the U.S. government’s role in the detention and torture of a Muslim American man in an overseas “blacksite.” Among the notable immigrants’ rights cases Hoq has litigated is Gomez v. Trump, a case which resulted in summary judgement against the Trump administration for its policy that effectively ended the 2020 Diversity visa program. Media includes: The OC Register, The Sacramento Bee, Los Angeles Times, NBC News.

Supreme Court blocked Trump’s new mail-voting restrictions for the 2026 midterms, allowing states to keep their current voting-by-mail systems. To discuss, we FEATURE Lisa J. Danet. Danetz has worked in the voting rights, money in politics, and democracy field as a policy expert, advocate, and lawyer for 20 years. Her work has focused on increasing election- and campaign-based political participation in society through public policy research, litigation, executive and legislative advocacy, and public education, and she has developed a particular expertise on voter registration through government agencies. As a consultant, her most recent work has been with Democracy Fund. She is also the former legal director of Demos, a New York-based public policy center, and worked at National Voting Rights Institute. Media experience: The New York Times, The Washington Post, Bloomberg.

The EPA is repealing limits on greenhouse gas emissions from coal and natural gas power plants, a major rollback of Biden-era climate rules that officials say will cut industry costs by more than $300 billion. To discuss, we FEATURE Heather McTeer Toney. McTeer Toney currently serves as the executive director of the Beyond Petrochemicals Campaign where she leads the fight to address petrochemical expansion and protect communities across the United States. Before leading Beyond Petrochemicals, McTeer Toney served as Vice president of community engagement at the Environmental Defense Fund and senior director at Moms Clean Air Force. In 2014, she was appointed by President Barack Obama as regional administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Southeast Region. Known for her energetic and genuine commitment to people, her work has made her a national figure in the area of public service, environmental justice and community engagement. Media includes: The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, PBS.

A Saudi oil pipeline damaged in a drone attack will be out of service for weeks as Yemen’s Houthis seize more strategic islands along key Red Sea shipping routes, threatening Saudi oil exports. To discuss, we FEATURE Irina Tsukerman. Tsukerman is a human rights and national security lawyer based in New York. She is a member of the American Bar Association's Energy and Environment and Science and Technology Sections. She is the program vice chair in the Oil and Gas Subcommittee. She is also a member of the New York City Bar Association's Middle East and North African Affairs Committee and an affiliate member of the Foreign & Comparative Law Committee. Tsukerman specializes in information warfare; she has written and spoken extensively on active measures by Russia, China, and Iran and influence campaigns by Middle Eastern state actors, as well as on the impact of active measures and influence campaigns on the human rights and NGO world; she has also published on a wide range of global issues touching on energy, geostrategy, strategical alliances, Great Power competition and its impact on geopolitics, domestic policy, and business, information security and digital rights/cybersecurity, big tech, terrorism and extremism, as well as issues in intelligence and counterintelligence. Media includes: Al Jazeera, The Epoch Times, CyberNews.

September 15–October 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month. To commemorate, we FEATURE Krissia Campos Spivey. Spivey is a rising national leader in ensuring equality of educational opportunity for Hispanic families. After raising the bar for parent-facing school choice resources in Spanish as a part of National School Choice Week, she’s expanding on that work as senior director of navigation programs and partnerships at the National School Choice Awareness Foundation. In tandem with National School Choice Week, NSCAW helps Latino parents explore all of their K-12 education options in Spanish, year-round. As a first-generation immigrant, she is passionate about empowering parents of every background to make informed decisions about their children’s education. Media includes: Univision, Telemundo, Colombia nos Une, La Noticia, USA Today, NPR.