Want a clear view of how legal immigration actually works on the ground? We sit down with former U.S. diplomat Dana Deree, now president of Arkansas Global Connect, to unpack the real mechanics of visas, from consular interviews and security checks to the seasonal programs that keep farms, resorts, and food plants open. Dana explains how officers weigh eligibility, why ties to home matter for tourist and work visas, and how multi-agency databases and in-person interviews filter out misuse without shutting the door to legitimate travelers.

We dig into H2A (agriculture) and H2B (nonagricultural seasonal) visas, breaking down what’s capped, what’s not, and why prevailing wage rules protect local pay instead of driving it down. If you’ve wondered whether these programs take jobs from Americans, the process proves otherwise: qualified U.S. workers get priority before any foreign worker travels. The bigger issue is scale, demand outstrips supply, leaving employers in lotteries and scrambling to plan. Dana shares the practical fixes that would help immediately, including expanding H2B numbers, guaranteeing returning-worker allocations, and giving compliant employers multi-year Department of Labor certifications instead of forcing them through the same paperwork every season.

We also tackle security head-on. From rigorous vetting to employer reporting, accountability doesn’t end at the airport. Ethical recruiting and a 97% retention rate show how following the rules becomes the incentive, come legally, work well, return next season. The result is a system that aligns what businesses need with what communities expect: open doors for lawful travel and firm guardrails against abuse. If you care about border security, local wages, or simply keeping your operation staffed, this conversation offers a grounded path forward.

If this helped clarify the immigration noise, subscribe, share with a friend who hires seasonally, and leave a review with your biggest question for a future episode.

A routine scan, a rare diagnosis, and a race against the clock set the stage for one of the most honest conversations we’ve had about hope, medicine, and meaning. Angie Graves takes us inside the whirlwind of preeclampsia, a rain-soaked ambulance ride to UAMS, emergency surgery, and four and a half months living by the glow of NICU monitors—where trust with nurses is earned one careful observation at a time and “small wins” become a way of life.

What follows is both heartbreaking and unexpectedly galvanizing. Angie shares how Jackson’s fight revealed the quiet gaps that make or break a family’s day: a better chair for skin-to-skin time, a phone card back when calls weren’t free, a $100 car seat to finally go home. Out of grief, she and her husband James launched the Jackson Graves Foundation, a small but focused charity devoted to NICU families and neonatal nurse education. Think micro-grants that remove discharge friction, holiday gift bags that say you’re not alone, scholarships to the Audrey Harris Neonatal Conference, and support for stabilization rooms and healing gardens. Across two decades and roughly $2 million raised, their north star stays the same: put resources as close to the bedside as possible and invest in the people who deliver care when seconds matter.

We also look forward. Angie explains why the foundation is transitioning to an endowment with the Arkansas Community Foundation, targeting $250,000 to sustain high-impact programs without constant fundraising. It’s a practical blueprint for anyone asking how to turn loss into lasting good: start where the need is specific, keep overhead low, elevate nurse training, and build structures that outlive the founders. If you’ve ever wondered whether small, well-aimed giving can truly change outcomes in neonatal care, this story answers with a clear yes.

If this resonated, help fund the endowment, and share this episode with someone who needs a model for turning compassion into action. And if you found value here, subscribe, leave a review, and tell us what small gap you’d fund next.

A skilled roofer in Mexico City wants to work legally for a U.S. contractor. On paper, that should be a straightforward match. Instead, we walk through why even the best‑case path can take three to five years, and how those delays push employers and workers toward the shadows. With attorney John Yates, we unpack the real mechanics: visitor and student entries, seasonal worker programs, employer liability when a hire “absconds,” and the alphabet soup that keeps temporary intent separate from permanent status.

We also confront the strange limbo of E‑Verify, a free, effective tool that remains optional for most employers. If verifying work authorization is the cornerstone of honest hiring, why do we treat it like a suggestion rather than a standard? From there, we zoom out to the economics that actually move people: the pull of open jobs and the push of instability abroad. The conversation doesn’t pretend these forces vanish with slogans; it asks how law and policy can make the legal path faster than the illegal one, so compliance wins by design.

Congress hasn’t passed comprehensive reform since 1986, an era of cassette tapes and paper files. We revisit what that bill tried to do, why it stalled in practice, and what a modern reset could look like: mandatory and modern E‑Verify, right‑sized seasonal and sectoral visas, processing timelines with guarantees, and a phased plan to address those already here without rewarding fraud. We wrestle with a core dilemma: should reform come first and status later? And make the case for incremental steps that honor both fairness and reality. If you care about building homes faster, harvesting on time, and keeping the rule of law intact, this conversation offers a clear, workable blueprint.

If this conversation resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review to help more curious listeners find us.