Any proposal that begins with words to the effect of, "First we secure the border, then...", or, "Once we secure the border..." is spurious. Such proposals make border security a conditional bargaining chip for follow on policies and actions. As long as that remains the case, those follow-ons remain negotiable and a matter of discourse and debate which will never be resolved, ergo, the prerequisite of securing the border will never be addressed.
What we need right now is for the candidates and the discourse to focus on how best to secure the border. This should be the exclusive concern, and is indeed, a Constitutional mandate. The politicians need to understand that regardless of what takes place afterwards, the border MUST be secured. Once that has happened, we can openly debate and discuss how best to approach the remaining crimmigrants, but until then, such discussions are little , more than political masturbation.
Secondly, Newt's "timeline" of 25 years is ridiculous. What kind of documentary proof is a crimmigrant going to provide to establish he's been here for 25 years? A fake driver's license? A bogus social security card? Either we're going to accept questionable documentation at face value, or we're going to spawn a whole new bureacracy dedicated to doing nothing more than validating the documents provided...
Well stated, but it goes beyond even that.
Simpson-Mazzoli was sold as an end-all solution to illegal immigration. But the amnesty pimps got their amnesty first and then never got around to the enforcement side of the equation.
And who are the folks Newt wants to provide a 'path to non-deportation?' Why, the first folks to come over the border since the last amnesty.
So Newt is looking to further the pattern on how DC handles this problem - by creating incentives to come over the border and wait for the next amnesty.
There should be NO discussion about what we will do with those already here until the border is secured. And not Obama/Napolitano/McCain secured - but truly secured, with benchmarks set in advance so our politicians don't just declare the problem to be solved without it actually being solved.