In an episode that you’ve surely been waiting for, Melissa and Todd discuss what Trump’s election might mean for the border. This includes addressing the question, What is a “border czar”? The Donald Trump campaign seemed to know, spending the last several months claiming (falsely) that Kamala Harris had held this somewhat imaginary position under Joe Biden. And, then, after the election, it took Trump only a few days to appoint his own border czar, former ICE commissioner Thomas Homan, who might be the first such czar since Alan Bersin in the late 1990s. Melissa talks about Homan’s background and his central role in a border disinformation network—known as Border911—that profits off the migrant “invasion” narrative. She even coins a new term: the MAGA ego system.

This is but one point of many discussed in this podcast episode. Melissa and Todd talk about Trump’s mass-deportation promise and the Democrats’ uninspiring ironfisted campaign on the border. Todd talks about what it was like to cover Election Day from the Mexican side of the border. And Melissa analyzes the election results in Arizona. As always, there is a bit of a media critique and a recommendation on where to look for hope and solutions: the border communities themselves.

Please feel free to use the comment section as a discussion forum for any of your own concerns, thoughts, or observations about the election and what’s to come. We appreciate the collective knowledge and wisdom of our subscribers. Also, we wanted to let you know that we will be pausing for a week for the Thanksgiving holiday. We are grateful to have you here with us.