The string of bad
luck for immigrants and the Obama Administration following the President’s
announcement that he would make changes to federal immigration policy that
could enable approximately 4.9 million undocumented immigrants to temporarily
remain in the country last November might be coming to an end. On Thursday, a
federal appeals court indicated that it is not bound by a previous decision that
would make it very difficult for the administration to prevail in litigation
challenging its immigration policies were this decision actually binding upon
the court. Joining me today to discuss
this news and what it might mean for Immigration reform in this country is Ian Millhiser a Senior Fellow at the
Center for American Progress Action Fund and the Editor of ThinkProgress Justice.
If you ask most
Americans what defines the “American dream”, they will likely tell you it
involves getting a good education, having the ability to find a good job and
work hard in order to buy a house, and achieve prosperity and success. This is the idea of America that most of us
believe in—a nation of opportunity, constrained only by ability and effort.
However, over the course of the past few decades we have seen a disturbing
“opportunity gap” emerge, which had challenged the very belief that in equality
of opportunity, the idea that all kids, regardless of their family background,
should have a decent chance to improve their lot in life. In his new book Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis Robert Putnam, Harvard professor of public policy and bestselling
author of Bowling Alone,
argues that the central tenet of the American dream seems no longer true or at
the least, much less true than it was.
Robert joins us today to discuss his book and explain what can be done
in order to restore equal access to the American Dream.
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