Prospects for Immigration Reform in 2014

Guests: Michael Matza and Peter Spiro

In last week’s State of the Union address, President Obama exhorted lawmakers to fix the country’s broken immigration system. The House Republicans recently released a set of core principles on immigration, focusing on “dreamers” and the ways that undocumented immigrants can live in the country legally. States have forged ahead independently and have implemented their own initiatives to address the 11 million undocumented immigrants who are living within their borders. Will 2014 be the year in which the United States can successfully tackle immigration reform? In this hour of Radio Times, we are joined by MICHAEL MATZA, The Philadelphia Inquirer staff writer on immigration, and PETER SPIRO, the Charles Weiner professor in international law at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law. They’ll discuss state and federal efforts for reform, the debate over whether legalization should include a path to citizenship, and what’s happening in the Philadelphia region.