Who Is Most Vulnerable Under Trump’s Deportation Plans?

Jonathan Blitzer reports. Plus: Richard Brody on the best movies of 2024; a playlist for short days; and essential works of Native American history. View in browser | Update your preferences Thursday, December 5, 2024 In today’s newsletter, Amanda Petrusich recommends a winter playlist. But, first, Jonathan Blitzer on the coming immigration crackdown. Plus: • Richard Brody’s best movies of 2024 • Essential works of Native American history • Houston’s thriving West African food scene The Immigrants Most Vulnerable to Trump’s Mass Deportation Plans Entered the Country Legally Biden could still pursue additional protections for many of them—so far, he appears unwilling to do so. Photograph by Go Nakamura / Reuters Emily and her family faced grave danger in their native Venezuela. Her husband, a policeman who had become a target of the government, had fled the country for the United States, forcing Emily and her two children to go into hiding. For them, a Biden Administration immigration policy built around a legal principle known as “humanitarian parole” was a transformative chance at a safer new life. The program—which allows certain migrants who have a U.S.-based supporter and who have passed government vetting to live and work legally in the country for up to two years—brought the family back together. As Emily tells Jonathan Blitzer, “Humanitarian parole was complete salvation. Salvation from politics. Salvation from repression. Salvation from a family situation that was terrifying.” They have been afforded legal status for now, but Emily and others like her may face the most immediate danger under the unsettled deportation policies of the incoming Administration, Blitzer reports. What might happen next, and why hasn’t the current Administration done anything to intervene while it still can? Read the story The Political Scene Podcast: Jeannie Suk Gersen joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss how the Trump indictments backfired. Listen and follow » The Year in Review 2024 in Review The Best Movies of 2024 The year’s finest works suggest that the art of cinema is expanding. By Richard Brody Read more New Yorker writers on the highs and lows of the past year. Our journalism relies on your support. If you believe in fearless, fair, and fact-checked reporting, please subscribe today. Subscribe now The Critic Recommends Amanda Petrusich Staff writer Merle Haggard. | Photograph by Kirk West / Getty The winter holidays can be joyous, exuberant, warming. But if the season’s relentless jubilance has left you a little raw and crabby, if you are overdue for a good sob-and-wallow, if you are jonesing for a long walk in the spindly cold, if you are feeling newly devastated and oppressed by what Emily Dickinson once called the “certain Slant of light” that hits on winter afternoons, allow me to offer a short playlist of songs that forego the mandatory cheer in favor of a darker, moodier vibe. In my opinion, December is a terrific time to turn up the collar of your wool coat and cultivate an air of gloomy complexity. Enjoy! “If We Make It Through December,” Merle Haggard “Winter Lady,” Leonard Cohen “Winter Is Blue,” Vashti Bunyan “Blood Bank,” Bon Iver “Fuck, I Hate the Cold,” Cowboy Junkies “December Day,” Willie Nelson “Out in the Cold Again,” Sam Cooke “Who Knows Where the Time Goes,” Nina Simone “Flowers in December,” Mazzy Star “I’m Not My Season,” Fleet Foxes Plus: Read Amanda Petrusich on the Best Albums of 2024 If you know someone who would enjoy this newsletter, please share it. Was it forwarded to you? Sign up. Culture Dept. On and Off the Menu Houston’s Thriving West African Food Scene As the city has welcomed more immigrants from Nigeria and neighboring countries, the local restaurant landscape has flourished. By Hannah Goldfield Book Currents The Twenty-first Century’s Best Works of Native American History Ned Blackhawk, who won the 2023 National Book Award for his groundbreaking reappraisal of U.S. history, discusses some of the best recent books about Native America. The Critics at Large Podcast: Films such as “Gladiator II” underscore our long-standing obsession with the Roman Empire. Why are we so desperate to reclaim ancient history? Listen and follow » Fun & Games Dept. Mini Crossword A Smallish Puzzle Earth’s is tilted at an angle of approximately twenty-three degrees: four letters. By Mollie Cowger Shouts & Murmurs Ad for the Human Body The human body is built for glory. For triumph. For experiencing sudden, inexplicable knee pain when you walk up stairs too fast. By Reuven Perlman Daily Cartoon Thursday, December 5th By Mads Horwath and Natalya Lobanova Name Drop: Can you guess the identity of a notable person—contemporary or historical—in six clues? Play a quiz from our archive » P.S. Richard Penniman, known by his stage name Little Richard, was born on this day in 1932. Writing about what the trailblazing, incomparable rock-and-roll singer was denied, and what he deserved and demanded for himself, Hanif Abdurraqib notes, “To remind people of all you’re capable of, and all you’ve done, may not stop you from being erased, but it might at least hang some shame around the necks of those doing the erasing.” 🔊 Ian Crouch contributed to this edition. What did you think of today’s newsletter? Let us know. If you like the daily newsletter, browse more New Yorker newsletters. You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for the daily newsletter from The New Yorker. Manage your preferences | View our Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2024. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.