Michael Matza

Michael Matza is an immigration writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer. He has reported extensively about refugee resettlement, deportation, visa fraud, humanitarian parole, new citizenship, and America’s changing demography. A former Middle East bureau chief, he returned to the U.S. in 2006 after six years in Jerusalem. Traveling across the region, he wrote about the Iraq War, Israel’s military withdrawals from Lebanon and Gaza, the intifada and diplomatic efforts to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Since joining the Inquirer in 1987, he has worked in the Metro, Features, National and Foreign news departments. As the paper’s New England bureau chief for three years, he covered the Oklahoma City bombing, the crash of TWA Flight 800, among other breaking stories. Working for two years on projects about the Philadelphia Police Department, he co-authored two series about police manipulation of crime statistics, and pervasive problems with the city's Rape Squad. Both were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.