‘Demographic Paranoia’: Jelani Cobb on ICE, Race, and the Importance of History

"We are dealing with the consequences of a demographic paranoia now." Journalist, historian, and author Jelani Cobb often looks to the past to better understand the present, and he says the right's pushback against immigration and multiculturalism is rooted in this country's history. He speaks with Maria Hinojosa about the parallels between recent ICE raids and the Fugitive Slave Act, the importance of solidarity between Black and brown communities, and how we should be thinking about the U.S. as we approach the midterms and the country's 250th anniversary. Latino USA is the longest-running news and culture radio program in the U.S., centering Latino stories and hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa. Follow the show to get every episode. Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for exclusive episodes, sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes chisme on Latino USA and all our podcasts.

You can listen to ‘Demographic Paranoia’: Jelani Cobb on ICE, Race, and the Importance of History online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

‘Demographic Paranoia’: Jelani Cobb on ICE, Race, and the Importance of History is an episode from Latino USA by iHeartPodcasts.

This episode is 28:53 long.

This episode was published on Mar 15, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Latino USA when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.