In this special episode of The Human Government, our host, Rose, shares with the audience why she personally felt called to get out on the streets on October 18th, 2025. From a specific research project in college to now, the systemic injustice of public policy in the U.S. has always been a focal point in her journey. Continuing to utilize her voice to speak up for marginalized communities, this episode touches on the tip of the iceberg.

In the next episode, Rose shares the “Why” from others who were at the protest also.

In part 2 of this episode of The Human Government, our host finishes taking us down a rabbit hole of research to better understand the history of immigration policy in the U.S.. We use one particularly helpful resource that chronicles policies from 1790-2014, matching them with a trend line graph that is helpful for understanding the impacts of various policies. Packed densely with information, dates, and details, this rabbit hole is broken into two parts. Part 1 details policies from 1790-1953 and Part 2 picks up in the 1960s during the civil rights movement. If you have not listened to part 1, it is recommended but not necessary to listen in on this episode.

This episode was recorded in the early morning of October 6, 2025 but was not published until October 16th, 2025. It was edited for length (and to remove the hosts side quest comments). Below, listeners can find links to all of the websites the host navigated to during this research rabbit hole.

Sources of information

How U.S. immigration laws and rules have changed through history (pewresearch.org)

⁠⁠https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/09/30/how-u-s-immigration-laws-and-rules-have-changed-through-histUnited States Department of Health, Education and Welfare Recordsory/ ⁠⁠

Archives: United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare Records

⁠https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/usdhew⁠

Current Status of DACA: Explainer (August 11, 2025)

⁠https://forumtogether.org/article/current-status-of-daca-explainer/⁠

United States Census Bureau: New Report on the Nation’s Foreign-Born Population (April 9, 2024)

⁠https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2024/foreign-born-population.html⁠

In the second episode of The Human Government, our host takes us down a rabbit hole of research to better understand the history of immigration policy in the U.S.. We find one particularly helpful resource that chronicles policies from 1790-2014, matching them with a trend line graph that is helpful for understanding the impacts of various policies. Packed densely with information, dates, and details, this rabbit hole is broken into two parts. Part 1 details policies from 1790-1953 and Part 2 picks up in the 1960s.

This episode was recorded in the early morning of October 5, 2025 but was not published until October 9th, 2025. It was edited for length (and to remove the hosts side quest comments). Below, listeners can find links to all of the websites the host navigated to during this research rabbit hole.

Sources of information:

Mapping Inequality, Redlining in New Deal America (Richmond.edu)

⁠https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/map/IL/Chicago/area_descriptions#loc=15/41.6847/-87.473⁠

How U.S. immigration laws and rules have changed through history (pewresearch.org)

⁠https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/09/30/how-u-s-immigration-laws-and-rules-have-changed-through-history/ ⁠

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, History (USCIS.gov)

⁠https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/our-history⁠

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol Overview (CBP.gov)

⁠https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/along-us-borders/overview⁠

In the first episode of The Human Government, our host takes us down the first rabbit hole of research on how the US government is funded. Starting first with the first search term of "how government funding works" we fall down the winding path of questions related to categories of funding, the duties of the legislative and executive branches in creating a spending bill, and where we are currently at the end of September 2025.

This episode was recorded in the early morning of September 25, 2025 but was not published until October 1, 2025. It was edited for length (and to remove the hosts side quest comments). Below, listeners can find links to all of the websites the host navigated to during this research rabbit hole.

What other research rabbit holes would you like to dive into on The Human Government? Be sure to let us know so we can research the topics you are most interested in.

Sources of information:

The Federal Budget Process (USA.gov)

https://www.usa.gov/federal-budget-process

What to know about Government Spending (Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States EANGUS.org - published June 17, 2024)

https://eangus.org/what-to-know-about-government-spending/

Discretionary Spending in Fiscal Year 2024: An Infographic (Congressional Budget Office CBO.gov - Published March 20, 2025)

https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61184

Major Discretionary Funding Changes (WhiteHouse.gov - Published May 2, 2025)

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Fiscal-Year-2026-Discretionary-Budget-Request.pdf

What is a Continuing Resolution and How Does It Impact Government Operations? (U.S. Government Accountability Office GAO.gov - published November 3, 2022)

https://www.gao.gov/blog/what-continuing-resolution-and-how-does-it-impact-government-operations

Government Shutdowns Q&A: Everything You Should Know (Committee for a responsible federal budget CRFB.org - published September 16, 2025)

https://www.crfb.org/papers/government-shutdowns-qa-everything-you-should-know