Tina Vasquez on Covering Immigration, Sina Toossi on Iran Sanctions view post on FAIR.org MP3 Link Houston Post photo of Laura Maradiaga (photo: Steve Gonzales) This week on CounterSpin: Coverage of the resignation of Homeland Security chief Kirstjen Nielsen showcased imperial court intrigue, and how craven one can be and still be dubbed a “grown-up in the room.” Media interested in Nielsen’s soft landing—Will she get to make the seven-figure salary God intends for ex-officials? Will she have pleasant dining-out experiences?—might have spent more time on the victims of the policies she executed, like Laura Maradiaga, an 11-year-old girl the government is trying to deport, alone, to El Salvador, due to a backlogged court’s clerical error . The immigration beat is multi-faceted, for sure, and media choices about what to look at, who to listen to, may be impactful, as the White House looks set to make its war on immigrants a key piece of Trump’s reelection drive. We’ll talk about all that with Tina Vasquez, senior immigration reporter at Rewire.News . MP3 Link Mike Pompeo (cc photo: Gage Skidmore) Also on the show: The Trump administration is engaged in an open campaign of pressure on Iran that feels to many like a ramp up to war. US sanctions have cost Iran some $10 billion, and now the White House seeks to cut off Iran’s oil exports—a big part of its economy—entirely. Asked recently how he could guarantee that US sanctions, ostensibly aimed at the country’s leaders, would not harm the Iranian people, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated flatly, “There are no guarantees.” Media coverage is less than helpful, shaped as it is by Iran’s “official enemy” status and, even more, by the implicit belief in the US’s right to do whatever it wants. We’ll talk about Iran policy with Sina Toossi, research associate at the National Iranian American Council. MP3 Link

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