Reach Robers in a a opinion piece published in the Arizona Republic has proposed the following plan to secure the border and then "reform" our immigration system...

No. 1. Stop holding our security hostage and get control of the border now. On Thursday, Obama said the border is "more secure today than at any time in the past 20 years." A few hours later, 21 people died in a shootout among rival gangs just 12 miles south of Nogales. Put down the talking points and fix it so that people with AK-47s aren't running through the desert. Fix it so that the people we've deported stay deported. Fix it with National Guard troops who are actually allowed to do what they are trained to do. That is, guard.


No. 2. Once we have control - and only after we have control - take up the issue of how to offer a chance of legalization to those who can prove they have been here since some set point in time that begins before any last-minute rush to the border to get in on the deal. They would need to have a clean criminal record, pay a fine and learn English. Yes, some hard-liners will try to stall on what "control" means. Yes, it's unfair to those who seek to come here the legal way, and yes, it's "amnesty." But it's also an acknowledgement that they are here and that we had a hand in their arrival. At least, our employers did, and we certainly never complained about the cheap labor.

No. 3. Create a tamperproof ID card and put employers on notice that if they're caught with ineligible workers, they're in big trouble.

No. 4. Establish a guest-worker program that fills the need for immigrant labor but only after being fair to the American worker, who will do most jobs, I suspect, if he or she is paid a living wage.

And No. 5. Along with securing the border now, pass the DREAM Act now.

The part where I disagree is on the Dream Act...you don't reward bad behavior with citizenship, much less "permanent residency."  They broke the law to come to this country and by rewarding them for that act is contravention to the rule of law...but then, since when does the rule of law figure into what ANY politician does in this country.






Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2010/07/03/20100703roberts0703.html#ixzz0se519ssX