[NittanyLion]

Right you both are. Kind of.

This is amnesty in the traditional sense of the word. Millions of current illegals will be granted pardon and allowed to remain. Their previously illegal behavior has been rewarded by this program.

In the political sense, amnesty has come to be associated with granting citizenship. I should probably have refrained from using the word, knowing the context in which it generally appears.

[SunStar]

Their previously illegal behavior has been rewarded by this program.

Not really... If they go home, they get the reward of the FREE blue card. That's an incentive to "deport" themselves.

[McGavin999]

This is amnesty in the traditional sense of the word. Millions of current illegals will be granted pardon and allowed to remain. Their previously illegal behavior has been rewarded by this program.

You either didn't read the speech above or you didn't understand what you read. Amnesty is a pardon granted to anyone who applies. This is a guest worker program good for 3 years and then you have to return home. You do not get to automatically apply for citizenship and if you want to apply, you have to go to the back of the line. If you want to stay here and apply for the permit you must pay a fee and you MUST be employed. If you are not employed, you go home. See the difference?

[jimt]

Folks, the problem isn't people coming here and working. It's people coming here who seek out every bennie the welfare state has to offer them, their wives, their children and any odd relative as well.

Increasing bureaucracy while further expanding the welfare state doesn't sound "conservative" or "centrist" to me.