Latest / The Radio From Hell Show - Best Of / Robert Gehrke from August 13th, 2026

Transcript

Robert Gehrke from August 13th, 2026 · The Radio From Hell Show - Best Of

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Nice one, Gurky, Sorry fidgeting newspaper guy, it's new.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: How was that journalist? The pickle guy? Turky Turky Robert
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: f x.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Nine Salt Lake Perbume columnist and writer, a reporter sl
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: trip dot com.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Hi Bob, Hey, good morning.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: So let's uh, did you write the story about the
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: former underground railroad?
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: I did.
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah, We've got to talk about esterday. So since two
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: thousand and three, there's been a lot. Congress passed this law,
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: bipartisan law signed into law by George Bush that miners
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: who are in the country undocumented have immigration cases pending,
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: get legal representation.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Provided to them.
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: And there's been a there's been a contract in place
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: for to have attorneys, you know, provide these services. The
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: administration had been trying to cancel that contract. They haven't
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: been paying the company that was doing it since since December.
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: They cut off payments. There was a lawsuit. A federal
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: judge said you've got to provide these services. Congress, the
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: Trump administration kind of tried to doge them.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: Because they because they were providing too good a service.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: Because it wasn't yeah it was it didn't.
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: It didn't align with their you know, their immigration policies,
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: so they'd cut off the payments back back in December.
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: They terminated the contract on July thirty first, and then
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: Friday Friday evening they awarded this new contract to a
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: new coordinator to provide provide these services and it was
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: Our Rescue formerly Operation Underground Railroad.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: Oh you are. And it has raised some eyebrows, let's
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: put it down.
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: Because they so if they take it away from the
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: people that were actually doing the job and give it
• 1:54
  Speaker 4: to these guys, they don't have to do that job.
• 1:58
  Speaker 4: They can take the money and not.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: They have to they have to sort of act like
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: they're doing.
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: There's no indication that oh you are or are Rescue
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: now has ever actually provided these services, or has attorneys
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: on staff, or has any experience doing this. And one
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: of the providers who's been providing these services in the
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: past and continuing to do it despite not being paid, said,
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: you know, they're they're just unqualified for this. They don't
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: have any of the resources in line. And this is
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: a pretty big job. It's they've got twenty four thousand
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: pending cases. These are kids who are either in government
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: run facilities or they've been put you know, placed with
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: families and have immigration for either amnesty petitions or you know,
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: asylum petitions pending and and so you know the the
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: the there's the prospect there that these kids are either
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: going to be deported, voluntarily leave the country, or or
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: just not have legal representation and not know the rights
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: or options that they have.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: And that's causing a lot of concern. And this is
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: a big contract.
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: It's at least one hundred and fifty eight million dollars,
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: but there are options for additional years that could get
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: it up to almost a quarter billion dollars, as you
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: said earlier, and you know the there there's a potential
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: that there could be a protest file that could be
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: challenged administratively, or it could be challenged in court. There
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: is still this case pending in the federal court in
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: San Francisco where the judge has said you've got to
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: provide these services.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: And so if the judge doesn't find this.
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: Acceptable, there's there's also an interesting some interesting there have
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: been requests from the from Border Patrol and ICE for
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: information about some of these kids, which the attorneys previously
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: refused to turn over because it's it's confidential information either
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: attorney client information or information that would be detrimental to
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: the today for the kids.
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: So so it's it's an interesting development. You know, you
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: read the statement I believe from Oh you are Sorry.
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: Our Rescue. They've rebranded since Tim Ballard left, and and
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: you know, they said that their priority is making sure
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: these children have representation. Uh and and so you know,
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: we'll see how this one plays out. But you know,
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: as of right now, and the other part of it
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: that you kind of touched on is that the CEO
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: of Our Rescue now as a former Homeland Security official
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: work I work with immigration and Customs enforcement for many years,
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: and and.
• 4:21
  Speaker 4: So you know, I just have a feeling they're going
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: to take this money and do other things.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: I think I think they will have to act like
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: they're doing.
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: So, yeah, nobody, nobody knows what they're going to do
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: or how they're going to do it. You know, it's
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: entirely possible. I suppose that they could put this whole
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: thing together. The other there there's they have one hundred
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: and twenty days to kind of put the wheels in
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: motion on this. So for the next four months at least,
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: there's you know, they before they before they start representing
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: these kids. You know, there's that There's that window as well.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: So what does it take a judge says, you can't
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: do this, you have to provide the representation and and
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: and and then members of the administration and I don't
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: know where it comes from, uh.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: Don't do it. They don't do it.
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: So what does it take to say, Okay, I'm going
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: to send federal marshalls to your office and a rescue Yeah.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: They The judge doesn't really have that authority.
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: There's the old famous saying I can't remember if it
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: was which which president it was, but you know, the
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: court's ordered something and the president said, well, let them
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: enforce it.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: It's really it's really challenging to do that.
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: I mean, I've I have participated or observed cases where
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: a judge is held cabinet officials in contempt for not
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: following the orders from the court. But that amounts to
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: fines basically potentially, I guess they could put them in jail,
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: but that's that's.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: Never been done.
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: So, you know, the leverage that the judge has in
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: this instance is fairly limited. Scooter Libby go to jail.
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: Scooter Libby did go to jail, but I think that
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: was for something different. I think that was for perjury.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, probably, I think it was. It was it
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: was that whole Valerie Plame thing. Yeah, it was a
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: little rat in.
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: The right in the in the administration out of them.
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: This is very similar to me to the head Start
• 6:09
  Speaker 4: thing where they wanted to just get rid of it
• 6:12
  Speaker 4: and then when they couldn't, then.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: They slow walk in or you know, change the regulation.
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: I feel like this is similar to that.
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we're going through the motions, but you know, and
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: this this is a this is a pretty sizable contract,
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: Like I said, five years up to five years if
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: they get it extended for the full term. And so
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: you know, it's it's a it's a big deal. And
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: there and there are a lot of people that you know,
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: these providers are pretty concerned about it. In Utah, Catholic
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: Community Services is the is the sole provider for these
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: services for these for these miners. And you know, but
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: in the meantime, these miners are sort of in this
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: state of limbo without the trying to navigate the system
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: in many instances and trying to and trying to this will.
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: Make it easier to round them up and and send
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: them back back to some other countries.
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: Well, and and there are the providers have been saying
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: that that's that's the goal. That's what they're trying to do,
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: is deport them more quickly, you know, convince them to
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: voluntarily go back to their countries, et cetera. So it's
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: it's a it's it's a problematic situation.
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: And the whole thing that Gina mentioned with the head
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: Start program, I thought, the one real telling thing in
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: all the new regulations they're putting in there is this
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: will be an English only program that tells you everything.
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: Everything you need to know.
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: Right there, I heard you talking about patriot Patriot games. Yeah,
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: Utah kid, a young man from Utah one the male division,
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: rock Well Rockwell Myers.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: Rockwell Myers.
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a that's a name, very patriotic name if
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: there ever was one. But yeah, this was a series
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: of competitions that the president staged, you know, military Harry,
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: obstacle courses, tug a war, dodgeball I think they played,
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: and Rockwell Myers from Utah was the.
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: It would change. I didn't see any coverage of it
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: much as.
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: We had a story about it, but it was you know,
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: I mean, maybe I was Gina covered in sports?
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: I can't, so we trusted her to take this out.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: Rockwell Myers, Well, congratulations to him. Yeah, you know, I mean,
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: for whatever this was, it could be a good thing.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: It sounds like he got a scholarship.
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: Yeah, he got a one hundred and twenty five thousand
• 8:32
  Speaker 4: dollars scholar that's not good.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: That'll buy some books, just make sure that you get
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: it in cans.
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: Unfortunately, it's a scholarship to Trump University exactly.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: Robert Gurky sl trib dot com. That's where you'll find
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: his reporting. Thanks for talking by glad to be here.
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: Thanks you