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Video: Polarization past and present: What’s changed? What’s possible?

A successful Democracy is messy. People are diverse in countless ways and have individual, cultural, and group identities and points of view. That people came together through most of US history to bridge differences has been America’s achievement since its independence. Today seems different.

Americans are deeply divided, despite sharing common hopes. What, then, is at the root of our current divide manifesting itself in life and death issues (Covid) and even an Insurrection? Is American democracy at the abyss? Can we bridge again to restore and foster Democracy, as messy as it may be?


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Texas secretary of state raised concerns about the federal tool used to flag potential noncitizen voters

Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson presides over the House during the opening ceremony of the 89th Texas Legislative Session at the capitol in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. Records show Nelson raised concerns about the accuracy of a federal data tool her office used to flag potential noncitizen voters.

(Eddie Gaspar / The Texas Tribune)

Texas secretary of state raised concerns about the federal tool used to flag potential noncitizen voters

The Texas Secretary of State’s Office used a controversial federal data tool to flag more than 2,000 potential noncitizens on the state’s voter roll last year. But in an April letter to federal immigration officials, Secretary of State Jane Nelson raised concerns about its accuracy.

In that letter to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials, obtained as part of a public records request by Democracy Forward — a nonprofit legal organization advocating for democracy through litigation and public policy — and shared with Votebeat, Nelson said her office wanted “to make sure that you are using the most accurate data,” and asked agency officials to notify her office if they are able to “confirm the citizenship of any individuals previously identified as non-citizens” in the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, system.

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The Roots We Planted: How U.S. Foreign Policy Shaped the Immigration Crisis

Supporters of Nicolas Maduro burn a United States flag during a gathering near Miraflores palace after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in the early hours on January 03, 2026 in Caracas, Venezuela.

(Photo by Jesus Vargas/Getty Images)

The Roots We Planted: How U.S. Foreign Policy Shaped the Immigration Crisis

“Right now, we have more workers than at any time in the history of our country…And people want to come in, and in some cases, they want to take advantage of that, and that’s okay,” President Donald Trump said in a 2018 statement. “And we want them to come in, but they have to come in through merit.”

These narratives paint a vivid picture of America’s struggle with immigration: a "city on a hill" slowly becoming overrun by foreign nationals, purportedly due to open-border policies. The rhetoric suggests the United States suffers from its own success, attracting immigrants who arrive in search of "government handouts" or to evade criminal charges.

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Protestors on one side of a caution tape line and people in mis-matching military gear on the other side.

Protesters clash with law enforcement after a federal agent shot and killed Alex Pretti on January 24, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Arthur Maiorella/Anadolu/Getty Images

Single Mothers Lost Months of Income Hiding From Ice — and Now Can’t Afford To Renew Immigration Papers

It was a frigid January morning in Minneapolis. Alexa quietly stepped outside her apartment to heat her car for her baby, who was waiting inside in her crib.

They immediately spotted her.

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