Steve King:A pathway to a pathway to a Green Card is still a pathway to citizenship.
Rand Paul or Ted Cruz may have at times said they were open to some legal status after some enforcement but you have to invent a new visa. I think Newt Gingrich called it the Red Card and Cornyn and others in 2007 called in the Z-visa.
Vitter and Jeff Sessions got 33 votes to try to insert a poison pill in 2007. The best poison pill came from Byron Dorgan with his fights with Kennedy. He wanted to make sure the guest workers leave after 5 years. The amendment passed 49-48.
It is much more fun to call a media pundit names than it is to face up to the fact that an FR-favorite, otherwise-conservative, presidential contender - wants to grant amnesty to illegal aliens and aims to significantly increase the rate of third-world immigration to our homeland.