Newt insisted that borders be secured and that employers be penalized for hiring illegals (”I do believe we should control the border. I do believe we should have very severe penalties for employers”).
Newt did NOT suggest citizenship for longtime illegals. Instead, he suggested that citizen panels review the status of illegals and then determine who will be deported and who will be allowed to stay as foreign nationals with a “red card”. The illegals who take but don’t contribute get deported. Those who have a track record of contributing and not taking get a red card. This red card status allows productive illegals to stay and be transferred to a legal visitor status until they break the rules, and it makes them ineligible for welfare and other entitlement programs and won’t allow them to vote because they are not citizens.
Given the practical reality that we will NEVER be able to deport 10 Million illegals, what Newt proposes is practical and also addresses the pathetic situation we are in now.