I recall that when it was first announced in 2004, there was a more open discussion of that "fairness" issue, and some admin officials (was it Cheney? others?) were saying that those on "work visas" would go to the back of the line if they wanted to apply for residency, e.g., behind those who've already been in line for as long as a decade.
That seemed fair to me, as I think it would to most Americans.
But this "path to citizenship" nonsense is intuitively understood by most Americans to be unfair, to reward lawbreaking, and to be repellent to American values.
And that revulsion is going to hit the Republicans hard in November, I think.
If the Republican Congress would stop hiding under their desks and come up with a solid plan they could stop all this. But they are all chickens.