I wouldn't mind Bush's plan so much if it weren't for the Reconquista (demographic conquest of former Mexican land) aspect to this. Some people in the Latino community (and this includes, no doubt, some illegals) sincerely want the S.W. United States to revert back to Mexico. Mexicans have been taught that this land was stolen from them (rather than ceded by their own government per the Tready of Guadalupe Hidalgo). In this light, legalization instead of deportation or attrition is a form of slow demographic suicide for that part of the U.S.
Furthermore, there is the plain ol' National Security aspect of this. Homeland Security cannot even properly screen the 950,000 legals who come into the U.S. each year. What makes you think they'll do any better with a flood of 12 to 30 million just-legalized people?
The national security question is pretty easily dismissed with this answer.
In terms of national security, which would you rather have:
6,500 agents combing phone records of known Al Queda members, to find connections to new members who might be coming from anywhere, probably legally.
or
6,500 agents at the border trying to find Al Queda agents as part of their numerous other duties.
It must be added that all the 9/11 attackers arrived in the country legally and so not even the fanciest, most wonderful border system in the world would have kept them out.
Better investigative techniques might have, and more persistent investigators might have. But more border patrol people would not have, and that's a fact.
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The Reconquesta is a more interesting question. To be honest, I don't think it's realistic. As you may remember, the San Fernando Valley tried to secede from Los Angeles a few years back, and the proposal was soundly defeated. The logistics of such a vote would be essentially impossible, since it would involve the entire country, not just the individual segment. That's how the LA secession vote worked and I'm sure a US secession vote would work in the same way.
Furthermore, I think most of those people who came out were attracted by their desire to show their strength as a people, not with any serious desire to become part of Mexico. They then waved the signs they were asked to wave. If you notice, those signs were pre-made and were not created individually by the protestors.
I think those protests were like International ANSWER protests, which I have seen and photographed personally during our counter rallies. If you look at an ANSWER rally, you will notice that many of the signs and people are showing contradictory goals. If you asked ANSWER protestors whether they'd heard of the Korea Truth Commission or Pastors for Peace, I'm sure you'd see blank stares aplenty.
It is actually a policy of ANSWER to conceal who's actually behind the organization and why, so a lot of people who go to those protests are just looking for a fun time protesting, to pick up chicks, and of course to express their hatred for Bush. But they don't know that they are actually supporting the Cuban and North Korean governments by participating.
This is why ANSWER is so well-funded.
I believe some of the immigrant protests were managed by ANSWER and I will bet not one person in a thousand who participated actually knew who ANSWER was or what they stood for, or even what the Reconquesta is.
This is ANSWER's dirty little secret - they drum up support for their cause, even though most people don't even know what it is. So their support is a mile wide and an inch deep, but that's how they get hundreds of thousands of people, few of who actually agree with them, to protest.
D