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Palin on Amnesty:

As governor, how do you deal with them? Do you think they all should be deported?
There is no way that in the US we would roundup every illegal immigrant -there are about 12 million of the illegal immigrants- not only economically is that just an impossibility but that's not a humane way anyway to deal with the issue that we face with illegal immigration.

Do you then favor an amnesty for the 12 or 13 million undocumented immigrants?
No, I do not. I do not. Not total amnesty. You know, people have got to follow the rules. They've got to follow the bar, and we have got to make sure that there is equal opportunity and those who are here legally should be first in line for services being provided and those opportunities that this great country provides.

To clarify, so you support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants?
I do because I understand why people would want to be in America. To seek the safety and prosperity, the opportunities, the health that is here. It is so important that yes, people follow the rules so that people can be treated equally and fairly in this country.

Palin is parsing words. She is trying to appear against amnesty while allowing illegal aliens to remain in this country. The existing rules per the Federal Immigration and Nationality act require illegals to be deported but Palin doesn't like thos rules so she wants to ignore them. Also, what of all the thousands of foreigners waiting to enter this country legally? They suddenly would get pushed to the back of the line with Palin's approach. She couldn't be more disingenuous.

Palin is parsing words. She is trying to appear against amnesty while allowing illegal aliens to remain in this country. The existing rules per the Federal Immigration and Nationality act require illegals to be deported but Palin doesn't like thos rules so she wants to ignore them. Also, what of all the thousands of foreigners waiting to enter this country legally? They suddenly would get pushed to the back of the line with Palin's approach. She couldn't be more disingenuous.

So, you would contend that it is possible and practical to expel 100% of the illegal aliens currently in the country. You would also seem to indicate that there are not illegal aliens currently in the country who for one reason or another would be more desireable as a permanent resident than the next person in line.

Apparently there are only two choices, kick everyone out or let everyone stay and if you are kicking them out, if even one gets to stay, that amounts to amnesty.

There is nothing disingenuous about making a distinction between an amnesty that puts people who entered the country illegal onto a track toward citizenship, thereby rewarding their contempt for law, and an amnesty that regularizes their status by ‘grandfathering’ them into a guest-worker program as part of a reform of immigration policy that simultaneously secures the borders and addresses the reliance of some industries on economic migrants.

I have long been absolutely opposed to the former, which is what everyone from G.W. Bush left seem to mean (in Orwellian fashion) by “comprehensive immigration reform” and supportive of the latter, which is what the phrase should mean. It sounds to me like Palin is spot on on the issue.