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I believe a lot of the objections we are now hearing can be somewhat mitigated as the details flesh out during the legislative process. For the unappeasable purists, no amount of pragmatic compromise will satisfy them. Just deporting 8 million illegals is just not a practical solution. All hell would break loose.

The more pragmatic solution is to give them a choice, pay a fine or be deported. I would set the fine at $1,000 payable over the course of a year or two. Thus, they are punished for being illegal, while not totally disrupting our economy.

The added benefits of making them have legal status are many: they pay taxes; improved national security; increased supply of cheap labor thereby fewer plants being built in foreign counties; as there are more plants being built here, that means more higher paying jobs as well; and finally, more criminals will be getting caught as there are more people willing to report crime without fear of being deported.

Employers who fail to report on illegals after a grace period would have to pay far stiffer penalties. The penalties should be stiff enough to really bite if they get caught. This should help prevent an influx of new illegals. Stronger border enforcement and a beefed up employer enforcement all will help stem the tide. There is nothing that says these items are out of the final bill.

Finally, it should be pointed out that the idea is to tie immigration status to jobs. If a job is available for a guest worker (after offering it to Americans first) then they can legally reside here. No job, back home you go.

Just about everybody agrees that this is a very complicated issue. So before rushing to judgment as many of the unappeasable purists are fond of doing, we should wait and see how the details work out during the legislative process.

Just about everybody agrees that this is a very complicated issue. So before rushing to judgment as many of the unappeasable purists are fond of doing, we should wait and see how the details work out during the legislative process.

Very well stated comments and this last paragraph speaks volumes IMHO!

Your facts are interesting but do they refer to legal immigrants or illegal aliens? There's a big difference. I'm sure many of the legal immigrants to this country are more educated, do not rely on our welfare system, etc...

As for point #2, I'm tired of the comparisons to many of those who immigrated here about a 100 years ago. My family immigrated here about a 100 years ago and did not have or rely on any of the social services that are available and that we pay for today -- welfare, free health care, legal access, bilingual education, etc. And more importantly, they WANTED to assimilate in America -- they did not continue to speak their own language nor did they expect to be educated in their native tongue.

As for the article posted, it is too simplistic. I want to see a side-by-side comparison of the social and economic costs of illegal immigration vs. what they actually contribute to our economy. Maybe some business owners are getting rich, but the rest of us our paying... If the business owners have to pass their costs on to consumers because they can't hire illegals that's fine with me. I'll pay another cent on my apple.

rant done.