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Permit those who have resided here for a while, who are without criminal records and are employed, to apply inside the U.S. for either a pathway to citizenship or legal residence.

This is where he gets it.

That said, a personal contact leads me to believe that the Chamber of Commerce is concerned only with the "immediate deportation" argument of many conservatives. Those conservatives have their point; it is inappropriate to have illegals here when we know they illegally entered the country. It is condoning illegal entry into the US.

The Chamber's argument is that the service, agriculture, and construction industries would collapse if illegals were "immediately removed." This, they say, would cause a depression level recession in the country until it was sorted out. They believe those industries are the location of so many illegals that it wouldn't be able to replace their jobs with able workers very quickly. They have a point. Any deportations, some of these people say, should take place over about a decade to allow for a gradual transition.

That is another of many excellent arguments for a bill that does one thing at a time (omnibus bills should be outlawed) and the first change must be total control of our borders, coasts, and visa programs.

With that simple step, everything else will eventually return to balance on its own. Stop the inflow and attrition will over time take care of everything else.

As for those illegals already here, green cards and pathways to citizenship are irrelevant. There is already a green card and immigration program. If they want one, then have them do it according to the current system. Their turn will eventually come up from their own side of the border, and then they'll be legal. It's true that some might find a way to apply on their side and return to this side while they wait. My sense is that no security program is absolute, so they always can gamble on making it through a 2nd time. Some might find a way to have someone else apply for them on their side while they stay on this side. We already have a worker verification program in place. If it's doing its job, then they are at risk.

So, the bottom line is this, we don't need a deportation program. All we need is a total control of borders, coasts, and visas program. Everything else will fall into place.

Taking the taxpayer-subsidized, “cheap” labor out of the equation would lead to sectors like agriculture to modernize more quickly, which would be a good thing. And for nasty work such as in slaughterhouses and chicken factories, there’d be a fair increase in wages that would also give more jobs to low-skill American workers.

There is no practical deportation plan that would eliminate illegal workers overnight, but vigorous deportation coupled with an aggressive e-verify program would take care of the bulk of the issue within a couple of years.

Yeah, some of those companies being subsidized by taxpayers would take a bit of a hit, but our real unemployment rate would go down and our increasing crisis in the skill level of our workforce would be significantly lessened.

Your last sentence tells it all. What good is a deportation program if one illegal is deported and 10 other cross the border illegally. Total control of the border, coasts and visas is the key.

This is where he gets it.

This is where VDH supports amnesty.

The Chamber's argument is that the service, agriculture, and construction industries would collapse if illegals were "immediately removed." This, they say, would cause a depression level recession in the country until it was sorted out. They believe those industries are the location of so many illegals that it wouldn't be able to replace their jobs with able workers very quickly. They have a point. Any deportations, some of these people say, should take place over about a decade to allow for a gradual transition.

This is just BS. The Chamber of Commerce supports amnesty and the doubling of guest worker programs. They take jobs away from Americans and depress wages. With 21 million Americans looking for work or underemployed, there is no shortage of labor.

Still No Evidence of a Labor Shortage Immigrant and native employment in the fourth quarter of 2013

Congress is currently considering immigration reform packages that include work permits for those in the country illegally, as well as substantial increases in future legal immigration. Yet the latest employment data continue to show an enormous number of working-age Americans not working, particularly those with modest levels of education.

Among the findings:

In the fourth quarter of 2013, the standard unemployment rate (referred to as U-3) for native-born adults who have not completed high school was 16.6 percent, while for those with only a high school education it was 8.5. The U-3 unemployed are people who have looked for a job in the last four weeks.

The broader U-6 measure of unemployment — which includes those want to work, but have not looked recently, and those forced to work part-time — was 28.7 percent for native-born adults who have not completed high school and 16.5 percent for those with only a high school education.

The total number of native-born, working-age adults (18 to 65) of any education level not working (unemployed or out the labor force) was 50.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2012 — 8.8 million more than in the fourth quarter of 2007, and 14.7 million more than in the same quarter of 2000.

The share of working-age (18 to 65) natives holding a job has not recovered from the Great Recession. In the fourth quarter of 2013, 31 percent were not working, something that has barely improved in the last five years.

In the fourth quarter of 2013, there were only two working-age natives holding a job for every one that was not employed. This represents a huge deterioration. As recently as 2000, there were three working-age adults holding a job for every one not working.

As for those illegals already here, green cards and pathways to citizenship are irrelevant. There is already a green card and immigration program. If they want one, then have them do it according to the current system. Their turn will eventually come up from their own side of the border, and then they'll be legal.

As someone who has actually issued immigrant visas, most of them would not qualify for a tourist visa let alone a permanent immigrant visa. And there are four million intending legal immigrants waiting overseas for their turn to enter. They have completed all the paperwork, background investigations, physicals, etc.