Immigration

In 2006, the last time Congress took a serious look at comprehensive immigration reform, hundreds of thousands of immigrants, legal and illegal, marched through the streets of the nation's cities. The resulting media coverage was filled with stories about real people — brown people! — whose lives would be affected by the proposed legislation.

It was the killings that initially drew me to the idea of exploring the U.S.-Mexico border. According to government figures, there were 47,515 drug-related killings in Mexico between late 2006 and late 2012, though many experts put the death toll much higher. Every aspect of Mexican life is affected by organized crime and its endless struggle for control of the distribution of marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. Most of the drugs are destined for the United States and Canada.

Lauriol plaza, in Washington, D.C., is one of those restaurants where it's hard to hear your voice over the din by 6 p.m. Salsa music blares. Waiters yell out to one another as they hoist platters of sizzling fajitas over their heads. The bar is packed with revelers armed with table beepers and margaritas the size of small fishbowls.

A few years back, an elegant female patron, infuriated about the long wait for a table, demanded to speak with the owner. Luis Reyes approached and introduced himself.

"I asked to speak with the owner," the woman said.

Comprehensive immigration reform. Suddenly the phrase is on everyone's lips. From President Barack Obama to rising Republican star Sen. Marco Rubio to right-wing television hosts Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly. As if by magic, everybody's for it after six years of ducking and using reform as a political wedge issue -- everybody wants to get it done.

But what exactly is it? What kinds of changes will it entail, and what will they mean for America?

Marc Goldwein and Tamar Jacoby discuss two political issues that are gaining traction in the lame duck session: avoiding the fiscal cliff and tackling immigration reform. Konstantin Kakaes hosts.

Give Karl Rove a break. His meltdown on election night may not have been entirely about Fox News prematurely calling Ohio for President Barack Obama. After all, the poor guy had every right to get upset while watching the Republican Party nominee’s campaign crash and burn.

For all intents and purposes, Mitt Romney trampled on Rove’s once vaunted GOP playbook–and leaves a weakened GOP in his wake.

After literally years upon years of rumors that the Cuban government was planning to implement migration reforms, today, finally it did indeed publish significant changes to Cuba's migration law in the Gaceta Oficial. After several years of economic reforms, some of which came ever so slowly and others of which seemed to cycle out rather quickly, such as new rules for property sales, these changes to Cuban migration law represent the first substantial political reform enacted by Raul Castro's government.

Polls show President Obama way ahead with Latinos, the nation's fastest-growing voting bloc. According to the latest Gallup figures, he leads Mitt Romney by 66% to 26% among registered Latinos, who could be the voters who make the difference in November in four of the eight must-win battleground states: Colorado, Nevada, Florida and Virginia.

Rebecca MacKinnon explains free speech on the Internet in light of Google's decision to block access to the anti-Islamic video. Len Downie and young journalists from News21 discuss their in-depth reporting on voter ID laws and voter's rights.

Noam Scheiber and Liza Mundy discuss Anne Marie Slaughter's controversial Atlantic magazine cover story, "Why Women Still Can't Have it All", and explore facets of presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Mormonism. Scheiber talks about one way Romney's Mormon background may have helped him financially this election, and Mundy explains how Romney's faith could impact his  policies affecting women -- if only he would address the subject. Elizabeth Weingarten hosts.