Tag Archives: police

Scholars’ Circle – US Policy of Policing Immigrants; Author Interview of Borders, Politics and Belonging – April 12, 2026

Kristi Noem, the controversial Secretary of Homeland Security, was fired from her position in March of 2026. Her short tenure as secretary was marked by numerous accusations of overreach of power, violations of due process particularly with regard to immigrants without proper documentation, and killing of protesters, notably in Minnesota, at the hands of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. On today’s show we will review Secretary Noem’s tenure at the Department and the future of ICE and the immigration raids she instituted. [ dur: 35mins. ]

How does immigration and the border define identity and belonging? We revisit a book on borders and their impact on immigration, identity, and belonging. [ dur: 23mins. ]

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian, Anna Lapin and Sudd Dongre.

Politics and Activism, Human Rights, police, Refugees

Scholars’ Circle – ICE the organization, terrorizing communities with its tactics. – January 18, 2026

The killing of Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross reflects increasingly aggressive and violent immigration & customs enforcement and policing in the US. What’s behind this growing violence in law enforcement?

Has ICE become more violent or are we just paying closer attention? What has changed with the organization under Trump?

On January 7, 2026, 37 year old Renee Good was shot and killed in Minneapolis by ICE agent Jonathan Ross. Since the killing, protests have surged in the Minnesota city. The White House and supporters of ICE state that Good was a domestic terrorist who threatened the ICE officer. But numerous accounts, videotaped taken by residents on their phones, have shown a very different story of the altercation. Residents, as well as elected officials have demanded that ICE leave the city and allow local law enforcement to maintain control. In response the Department of Homeland Security has indicated they will send hundreds more ICE officers and the President has threatened to declare war on the city via the Insurrection Act. On today’s show we will explore the history, policing, and impact of ICE on American cities. And we will explore the narratives told about these killings and how increasingly the visibility and transparency of policing has altered the narratives. [ dur: 58mins. ]

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian, Anna Lapin and Sudd Dongre.

Politics and Activism, Governance / Law, police, Civil Liberties, Police Brutality

Scholars’ Circle – Brazil’s militarized police & disappearances ; Insights on innovative technologies to address climate change factors – November 9, 2025

Violent policing and “disappearing” people is continuing in Brazil, even today in 2025. How is Brazilian civil society responding? [ dur: 33mins. ]

People around the world have developed innovative new technologies to mitigate or adapt to climate change. In many cases, adoption has proved difficult as governments and some large corporations have been reluctant to support them. Who are developing these technological solutions? What are some of these technologies? Can they help protect us from the worst of climate change? [ dur: 25mins. ]

Transcript of this interview can be found here : link.

  • Holly Beals, a strategic director & Senior Innovation Specialist, Aurora Climate Lab Lead at Creative HQ;
  • Michael Fielding is Chief Executive at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) Ventures and Co-Founder of Dot Ingredients.

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian and Sudd Dongre.