Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
Hewitt seems to be too skeptical about the background checks. Heck, you can get them done on the internet, now.
If you pay a penalty, it is not amnesty. The demagogues who will not accept any sort of compromise whatsoever never respond to that with a rational answer, but just proceed to to call people names. And if you’re not going to deport 12 million people, an action for which there will be no political will, then it is better to have the 12 million legalized and in the system and to improve border security and employment identification checks, as the current bill does. The bill also restricts extended family based immigration by removing several categories, but that is of course never mentioned by the opponents. Legalization will help with assimilation of the 12 million. Incremental improvements in border security and enforcement is the best we can hope for to improve processing for the future in the context of a cumbersome bureaucracy. But of course, one can’t possible do anything practical about a real problem so far as the opponents of the bill are concerned. They would prefer the status quo of limited enforcement and an increasing subclass of unassimilated illegal aliens.