Attorney Nse Ufot on Immigration, Southern Politics, & More!

We were thrilled to have the Attorney Nse Ufot join the Legal Lens Podcast to discuss key legal issues that impact Americans nationwide. A first-time guest who is sure to become a fan favorite, Ufot is a visionary leader known for her dynamic work in civic engagement and political strategy and founding the New South Super PAC and Solidarity Analytics and Media (SAM). She also served as the former CEO of the New Georgia Project, a nationally acclaimed organization, working alongside former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacy Abrams.

A Georgia native, Ufot is a graduate of both the University of Dayton School of Law and Georgia Institute of Technology. During this episode, we discussed her remarkable journey, the current political and economic climate of the South, the intersection of immigration and racial justice, and the modernization of the Civil Rights movement, providing both a sobering look at the challenges our country is facing while still laying out a hopeful path forward.

For a deeper, more convenient dive into these pertinent topics, I strongly encourage you to listen to our 35-minute discussion on the Legal Lens Podcast. You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Simplecast, and everywhere you get your podcasts for free. Alternatively, you can also listen in the player below:

Attorney Nse Ufot on Humanizing Immigration, Southern Politics, the Success of the New Georgia Project, and More!

I have no doubt you’ll be both informed and inspired by this powerful conversation with Nse Ufot, a leader with an incredible story who brings clarity and urgency to some of the most pressing civil rights issues of our time. To help you easily navigate the episode, here are relevant time stamps:

6:00 – The Human Face of Immigration and the Culture Wars
13:00 – The Success of the New Georgia Project and its National Impact
19:00 – Creating a New Digital Future with Solidarity Analytics and Media (SAM)
24:00 – Why the South is a Political Battleground and What That Means for Us All
31:00 – Data-Driven Hope for the Future

From Nigerian Immigrant to Civic Leader: A Personal Journey

During our conversation, Nse Ufot shared that she was born in Nigeria and raised in southwest Atlanta. As a teenager, her mother, a single parent, got a third job to hire an immigration attorney to assist them in their journey to become naturalized US citizens.

This proved to be an auspicious and precocious beginning to her career in law, as it was Ufot’s responsibility to ensure they passed the citizenship exam at just 14 years old.

“In our preparation to become citizens and through my studies, there was a certain narrative and understanding about what it meant to be an American, what rights and responsibility came with American citizenship, and what democracy was about, and I was acutely aware that the world I lived in and my experience as a black child in the South felt different from the American experience we were being taught about. There was a disconnect,” said Ufot.

This formative experience, along with her upbringing as a Black child in the South, created a dissonance between the rhetoric of American democracy and the reality she experienced. This led to her life’s work of closing the gap between reality and rhetoric.

“I don’t like liars. I like it when things make sense. I don’t like when people play in my face, and I have found what’s most important to me is closing the gap between reality and rhetoric. So, when people are saying a thing, but that thing is different from how we are and what my eyes and ears are telling me, I have found my calling in closing that gap,” she added.

Ufot’s first name, Nse, means I’m looking up to God, and she said her name gives her her mission in life. She said she finds herself constantly looking for the good in people and situations, a quality I would describe as a superpower because it empowers her to keep hope and persevere through situations, no matter how dire they may seem.

The Intersection of Immigration and Anti-Blackness

Our conversation with Attorney Nse Ufot turned to an issue she has lifelong experience with – immigration. As a naturalized citizen, Ufot is passionate about the conversations surrounding immigration issues, especially as the current climate continues to ramp up.

She said that attacks on immigrants and Black voters are inextricably tied together as a part of a violent conservative movement, suggesting that black migrants often live at the intersection of anti-blackness and xenophobia or anti-immigrant sentiment.

Ufot also shed light on the economic underpinnings of immigration policy, saying business owners need access to foreign labor, but conservatives use immigration as a part of the culture wars to cultivate a docile and compliant labor force by keeping people in fear of deportation.

“I think that these attacks we’re seeing on black voters, immigrants, and vulnerable populations are an attempt to drag America backwards – not just by the current administration, but by a broader conservative movement. There is an urgent need to put together a system that normalizes immigration into the United States. Business owners have made it clear that they need access to foreign labor to continue operations. People don’t just come here to lie on the streets. Immigrants are coming here to work. They’re employed and play a key part of keeping America relevant in the global economy,” explained Ufot.

Ufot points out that while the media narrative is often centered on Latino immigration at the Southern border, during the pandemic, up to 50% of the people in ICE detention were Haitian.

“There’s a human face to immigrants that people don’t often see. They’re often escaping very challenging political and economic situations in their country. Many people see America as a place where they can actually build a life, so putting a human face to this issue is important,” said Ufot.

The New Georgia Project and the Return of the Great Migration

A core part of Ufot’s recent work was with the New Georgia Project, which is where our conversation eventually led. Ufot recalled being introduced to Stacey Abrams.

“We have a brilliant leader from Georgia. Her name is Stacey Abrams, and I was introduced to her one day when I was home for the holidays. She had a vision for registering 1.2 million people of color and unmarried white women in the state of Georgia to vote,” exalted Ufot.

This number was significant because it was four times the margin of victory in recent statewide elections. The New Georgia Project went on to register 700,000 young people and people of color across all 159 of Georgia’s counties.

“Not only did we lead millions of new voters participating in Georgia’s elections, but it succeeded in helping to prove our theory for a long time that Georgia is not in fact a red state and that, at best, it’s a purple state – a battleground state, if you will. It’s a state where black voters were being suppressed as part of a larger strategy to keep conservatives in power,” said Ufot.

This success, however, was met with backlash in the form of Georgia’s Senate Bill 202. The law, which is now being appealed, makes it more difficult to vote and criminalizes activities such as handing out water to people waiting in long lines, sometimes up to 7 hours, to vote.

Solidarity Analytics and Media (SAM)

Ufot also discussed the company she started called Solidarity Analytics and Media, which she abbreviates to SAM. She said that the work she’s doing to reshape reality was, in part, inspired by an unlikely source – science fiction.

“When I was a younger organizer, I didn’t have the language for my worldview, and then I got introduced to this concept of Afrofuturism through the world of science fiction writing. Each moment contains the past, present, and future, so as an organizer, you have to think about what lessons from our past are necessary, vital, and important while we’re fighting today’s monsters and building the future we think we and our families deserve,” said Ufot.

Her mission is to help people organize digitally to carry on the Civil Rights legacy. In a sense, one could say that she is modernizing the Civil Rights movement.

“It’s really just thinking about how you do movement, policy, and advocacy work online, and helping civil rights elders who struggle with the transition into a more digital environment. I love working with movement leaders and elders and helping them update their software,” said Ufot.

The South: A Hotbed of Political Experimentation

A key part of the conversation focused on Ufot’s belief that conservatives are using the South as a testing ground for policies that they want to implement on a national level.

“What happens to black voters and the attacks on black voters can be and has been predictive about the conservative attempt to maintain power and control the marketplace of ideas. Fewer people are buying what they’re selling, so they have to be violent, aggressive, and illegal to hold onto it, from insurrection to all manners of crime to stealing elections,” said Ufot.

She states that to understand what will actually fly on the federal or national level, you must look at the shenanigans currently occurring in the South.

Data, Hope, and a Call to Action

Towards the end of the conversation, Ufot, a proud data and analytics nerd, shared some hopeful insights and data to offer hope, suggesting that “the tides are changing.”

She said that over 90% of Gen Z and first-time voters get their information online, so those with the truth must compete in the digital space. She also states that the majority of Americans do not support the current administration’s actions.

Ufot also points to another powerful trend: the reversal of the great migration. Black Americans are moving back to the South, and Ufot believes this is a fundamental shift that has the power to change the future direction of American politics.

Do You Want to Hear More Powerful Insights from Legal Experts Like Nse Ufot? Subscribe to and Download the Legal Lens Podcast!

Our discussion with Nse Ufot offered a powerful reminder that the fight for justice and democracy is happening in real-time in places you might not expect, closing the gap between reality and rhetoric. From her work in Georgia to the intersection of immigration policy and anti-blackness, Ufot revealed that many of the biggest national threats are being tested and experimented with in the South. Her insights cut through the noise, reminding us we must not mistake bullying and bad behavior and loudness for a lack of support, and her amazing work proves progress is possible when we organize, engage, and refuse to be silent.

In the current climate, staying informed is more important than ever. Stay informed, inspired, and empowered. Listen and subscribe to my podcast on Simplecast or by clicking below!

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This communication is not legal advice. It is educational only. For legal advice, consult with an experienced employment law attorney in your state or city.