We'll take a look at the Senate's immigration reform bill, and hear the concerns of the bill's critics; The FDA has banned the development of a generic version of Oxycontin; Shelby Smoak joins the show to talk about his memoir, "Bleeder"; How the Boston bombings will affect CicLAvia, and much more.
Immigration bill would expedite citizenship for DREAM Act students
There are an estimated 1.5 million people living in the U.S. who came here illegally as children. The U.S. Senate’s immigration reform bill, formally introduced early Wednesday morning, would put these so called Dreamers on an expedited path to citizenship.
Erick Huerta, for example, came here illegally from Mexico with his parents and siblings when he was 7-years old. Today he’s studying journalism at Cal State Los Angeles. In his spare time, he advocates on behalf of Dreamers like himself. They were named after the DREAM Act, an earlier proposal to give undocumented students a path to citizenship. Huerta welcomes the Senate’s current proposal for immigration reform.
“It’s pretty much what we’ve been asking for the last couple of years,” he says.
RELATED: 3 key components of the expected Senate immigration bill, explained
Under the bill, undocumented students would be able to apply for green cards after five years and would be eligible for citizenship immediately thereafter. Manuel Pastor, Director of the Center for the Study of Immigration Integration at USC, thinks the measure would be good for students and the state.
“When you have the president of the Berkley Math Society, who happens to be undocumented, being left out of being able to fully participate in the workforce in our society, boy that’s a tremendous loss,” Pastor says. “And this is going to be extraordinarily important to a large number of youngsters here in Southern California and throughout California.”
Under the proposal, Huerta’s parents and sisters, much like the majority of the approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the US, could face a wait that’s twice as long as his –10 years – to obtain a green card that would give him legal residency.
“When it comes down to it I am in many ways happy that if things go down the way it is now, I’ll be one of those folks that gets a front of the line pass,” Huerta says. “I’ll be a legal permanent resident in no time, within five years a U.S. citizen. But at the same time, I can’t leave my sisters out. I can’t leave my parents out.”
His parents would also have to pay a $1000 fine and prove that they’ve paid their taxes. Finally, Homeland Security would have to certify that controls in so-called high-risk sections of the border are 90% effective.
Those provisions don’t apply to Dreamers. But Huerta worries that those requirements or triggers, as they’re called in portions of the bill (read below), could be a sticking point for the rest of his family getting their green cards.
“Until they feel that the border is secure, then we can move forward with letting folks in and adjusting their statuses, but that ‘s not going to be the case any time soon,” he says. “I don’t think the border could ever be 100 percent safe or secure.”
Dreamers like Huerta have been pushing for legal status for more than a decade and the Senate proposal is a major milestone in their fight.
Betty Hung, the Policy Director for the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, says Dreamers from the Los Angeles area were among the first in the country to openly declare themselves undocumented and mobilize for a change in the laws.
“They really led the way here in Los Angeles for deferred action, but they didn’t stop there,” Hung says. “They have been organizing themselves for their parents, who they call original dreamers.”
Both Hung and Huerta say they realize the bill faces stiff opposition, will likely go through months of debate and is almost guaranteed to be amended. But they will take that over the immigration laws as they stand now.
Critics of immigration bill worried about potential financial impact
Not everyone holds much hope for the immigration bill introduced in the Senate this morning. Some fear the bipartisan plan will cost California billions of dollars.
Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform is one of those critics, and he joins the show to talk about his concerns.
California Senate committee advances broad gun control bills
Yesterday, the a California senate panel advanced some of the most restrictive gun control measures in the nation. The Senate Public Safety Committee approved several bills, part of a package of measures Democratic leaders are calling the Lifesaving Intelligent Firearms Enforcement Act or just The Life Act.
For more on this we're joined now by Adam Winkler, a constitutional law professor at UCLA and the author of, "Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America."
FDA places ban on generic versions of OxyContin
The Food and Drug Administration has prohibited the production of generic versions of OxyContin, a time-release painkiller that had been widely abused by crushing to induce a quick and powerful high.
The ruling came down Tuesday, the same day that the patent on the drug was set to expire.
"Basically the FDA took the position that the versions of OxyContin that would have been generically produced were far too prone to abuse, and that the risks of those drugs outweighed the therapeutic benefit of the abuse resistant form of OxyContin," said Barry Meier, business reporter for the New York Times and author of Pain Killer: A "Wonder" Drug's Trail of Addiction and Death.
The drug's manufacturer, Purdue Pharma, stands to win big from the ruling as no other competitors will be able to enter the marketplace with cheaper versions.
"They set a big precedent from the standpoint that they do incentivize companies to switch to tamper resistant versions of these widely used drugs," said Meier. "The companies that are able to do that and other companies seeking to do that can essentially develop monopoly positions, if you will, for their particular drug."
In 2010, Purdue Pharma released a new formulation of the drug which made it less prone to abuse. The original version of the drug, approved back in 1995, could easily be crushed and snorted or injected. The new version would change state if the user attempted to tamper with its intended pill form.
"The original version of OxyContin which would have been the same as the generic versions of OxyContin can be easily crushed," said Meier. "In the newer version of OxyContin … if you tried to tamper with the drug by crushing it, it turns into a sort of a gummy gooey mass, so it can't be injected with a hypodermic needle or inhaled."
The FDA has also approved a new label for OxyContin bottles that touts the drug's new tamper-resistant properties.
"It marks the first time that the FDA has given a manufacture label that states that the drug is tamper resistant or less prone to abuse,"said Meier. "According to what FDA officials said yesterday, this will be the first of what they hope to be many new formulations of narcotic pain killers that will be less abuse prone."
Shelby Smoak's memoir 'Bleeder' explores life after an HIV diagnosis
We all been told at least once that life isn't fair, but some people live that phrase every single day of their lives.
Author Shelby Smoak was born with hemophilia. When he was 11, he contracted HIV from a blood transfusion, but didn't find out about his disease until when he was 18. His new memoir, "Bleeder," begins at this point in his life.
He joins the show today, World Hemophilia Day, to talk about his experience with blood illnesses and what it was like to tell his story.
Sports Roundup: Lakers, Pat Summerall, Boston Marathon
It's time for our weekly romp through sports with Andy and Brian Kamenetzky. They've covered the L.A. sports scene for over a decade for the Times and ESPN.
The NBA's regular season ends tonight. There's one playoff spot left to be decided and it's between the Lakers and the Utah Jazz. Kobe is out with a torn Achilles, and now Steve Nash is out, too. What will this mean for their chances?
The dual bombing at the Boston Marathon was a terrifying and tragic event and, understandably, people are very nervous. Both the Bruins and Celtics cancelled games for Monday night, and the Sox played last night in Cleveland. Here in LA, they've upped security for Dodgers games. How might this affect future sporting events in LA?
Legendary broadcaster Pat Summerall died yesterday. He was one of the iconic voices in broadcast football, but also events like the US Open and the Masters. What legacy does he leave behind? How will he be remembered?
Ludo Lefebvre's new restaurant sells advance tickets for reservations
People buy tickets for sports games, for movies and concerts, so why not buy a ticket in advance for dinner? That concept is being tested this morning at a brand new LA restaurant called Trois Mec.
The chef is Ludo Lefebvre, who's made a name for himself at restaurants like Bastide and his own pop-up restaurants known as LudoBites.
His wife, Krissy Lefebvre, is his business partner and joins us on the line to talk about this new business model.
MPAA tweaks ratings system to better-inform parents
The Motion Picture Association of America has a new ratings awareness campaign. The new system, called "Check the Box" by the MPAA, aims to help parents make better decisions about the movies their kids see. CEO Chris Dodd announced the change at the CinemaCon gathering in Las Vegas.
RELATED: MPAA rolls out new movie ratings educational campaign
Joining is the MPAA's Senior Vice President and head of the Classification and Rating Administration, Joan Graves.
The Boston Marathon bombings show difficulty in securing public spaces
Investigators are still piecing together information about the two bombs that detonated Monday afternoon at the Boston Marathon. Meanwhile, here in Los Angeles, security remains heightened at LAX and sporting events.
From Chief Beck:
"In the city of Los Angeles this raises extreme concern. Obviously we are a city that loves its crowds, loves its sporting events, and the Los Angeles Police Department will take every effort to make those safe ... But I want to remind the public of this: Police officers cannot be everywhere. We live in a very mobile, very free society. There are not enough cops to watch everything ... Your safety is your responsibility as well as it is mine."
LAPD Commander Andy Smith joins the show to talk about what LA is doing to beef up security at key places.
Then, investigators are trying to piece together what they know, and there are still no suspects in custody and no motive. Joining us to review what is currently known and how the investigation is unfolding is RAND counter-terrorism expert Brian Jackson.
LAUSD looks to expedite abuse investigations
LAUSD has been hit with a number of sexual abuse scandals over the past few years. Allegations of sexual abuse have been on the rise, and the way those accusations have been investigated has garnered a lot of criticism.
The Board of Education is now considering a new method of investigating alleged crimes.
Tamar Galatzan is a LAUSD School Board Member representing District 3, which covers most of the San Fernando Valley. She wrote the proposal and is here now to talk about it
Scientists use special tanks to urge endangered white abalone to mate
The sea snail has long been a gourmet favorite, so much so that over-fishing has decimated the abalone in some areas. It's been illegal to take the mollusk from Southern California waters since 1997.
The most endangered variety is the white abalone, prized for its tender flesh. Now scientists are trying to help the white abalone population recover, and they've created special tanks designed to promote abalone reproduction.
Melissa Neuman is a fisheries biologist with NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), and she heads up a project aimed at preserving abalone.
God is in the octopus' garden: A conversation with Christian Mondor
To mark Earth Day this year, this coming Saturday, we're exploring the relationship between the environment and religion. We asked people from different traditions to talk about how their faith shapes their attitude towards the natural world.
Today KPCC's Molly Peterson visits with Father Christian Mondor, a priest at Saints Simon and Jude Catholic Church in Huntington Beach.
Click here to read the full story
Petula Clark makes a pop comeback at age 80
British Singer Petula Clark made a name for herself worldwide in 1964 with this hit – Downtown. She's sold more than 68 million albums, recorded songs in German, Italian and Spanish. She's appeared in dozen of films, hundreds of TV shows.
And as if that weren't enough, this year she put out a new album, "Lost In You," at age 80. She joins the show to talk about her long, successful career.
Listen to the full album:
How the Boston bombings will affect CicLAvia's ride to the sea
CicLAvia, LA's shared biking experience, plans to expand all the way to the Pacific Ocean this Sunday, but some are worried about public safety after the two explosions that rocked the Boston Marathon this week.
We’ll check in with CicLAvia organizer Aaron Paley about what security will look like and why the day should go on as planned.
RELATED: Guide to CicLAvia's bike rentals, tune-ups, feeder rides and more