Any legislation that allows the lawbreakers to stay and work here, the object of their crime, is amnesty. They are at the head of line, which begins in their home country. We have over 4 million intending immigrants overseas waiting their turn to enter legally. They have completed all the necessary paperwork and paid the fees. Whatever happened to the rule of law?
Citizenship is a bonus. Rand Paul is selling us the same BS that McCain, Graham, Bush, Rove, Kennedy, etc tried to sell us. Rand Paul is a libertarian not a conservative.
I agree with this.
What Rand Paul is proposing is a form of blanket amnesty. He preconditions it with a secure border, which is good. If he also preconditioned it with a federal law requiring photo ID to vote, and proof of citizenship to register, it would be even better.
But allowing millions of people to stay here and harvest the fruits of their lawbreaking is unacceptable. As a bare minimum, we need to be a lot more selective than Rand Paul: no burglars, no street gang members, no prostitutes, no drug addicts, no drug dealers, no welfare queens. No con men or credit card scammers.
They qualify for a path to citizenship only if they've been working or going to college more than they've been collecting government benefits, they've been here at least ten years (perhaps this could be reduced to five years for entrepreneurs, people with high tech job skills, and immediate family members of citizens), and they've never even been arrested for anything other than immigration violations. If the local anti-gang or anti-drug task force identifies them as gang members or drug dealers, they get deported even if they've never been arrested.
The path to citizenship should require that they learn English, continue to stay out of trouble, continue working or going to college, and generally continue being an asset to the community (rather than a liability) for five more years.
And this program should have the two preconditions I mentioned at the top: (A) a secure border, and (B) a federal law requiring photo ID to vote, and proof of citizenship to register. (Don't worry, Reverend Sharpton. If they can't afford the $5.00 fee for a photo ID, all they have to do is bring in proof that they're on food stamps or whatever, and we'll waive the $5.00 fee.)
This is just a suggestion, and a starting point for further discussion, don't tase me bro etc.