I may be oversimplfying everything when I ask two very polar questions. I may be presenting a false dichotomy here but I need to air them out.

Would you rather use the government’s money, beaurocracy, and energy to go to: 1) hunting down, incarcerating, prosecuting, and removing every one of the eight to eleven million out of status aliens in the country, or, 2) changing immigration law, just as most laws are changed, to allow for integration, legal viability, and protection of every denizen of this nation, geared towards actually reducing expenses that would be incurred if everyone with no legal status were hunted down?

Immigration as it stands is an all or nothing issue. Either you’re in status or not. Take one false step and by statute you can lose your status without you even knowing it. I have written about this in my pre-burn blog, a blog I remember but hardly knew.

Would this reward border jumpers? For those who already are in here, yes. Would it encourage illegal entry? Not so, if one of the requirements for the temporary work visa is to have proof of undocumented employment at the enactment of the law.

Would this compromise national security? Coupled with the US-VISIT program—perhaps the first step in a pipe dream of mine which is an Alien Tracking Office that registered aliens should report to for periodic confirmation of residence and whereabouts—I sure hope not.

I keep on wondering what it is that anti-immigration folks find so important that they would like to keep America to themselves. One hundred and forty thousand green cards a year are far less injurious to the nation than isolationism would.

For more details, this CNN article helps. Volokh buddy Tyler Cowen, after listing a few possible pitfalls, has his opinion too: I can see that this policy is a move in the right direction, but I suspect that a true, workable amnesty will have to be more “blanket” in nature.

UPDATE: A major caveat in discussing PROPOSED legislation: as I see it I don’t think we have the proposed laws on paper yet. Before we actually either rant or rave on the hypothetical ramifications of a real proposal, let’s try to keep our heads on straight and refrain from declaring this program to be a sign of America’s demise, please? I can easily forecast a crescendo in chest thumping and what not over the next few days over this news.