A bottom-up solution to America’s immigration dilemma

I wasn’t surprised to see that early polling on Arizona’s draconian immigration crackdown was somewhat positive. But I assumed that people didn’t really understand the issue properly, as is often the case. But Supreme Leader Faiz Shakir’s writeup of the NYT’s poll on the subject reveals the more disturbing possibility that the public knows what’s going on and likes it anyway:

While the “Gang of Eight” Senate negotiators appear close to a deal on immigration reform, legislation still could be hung up by profound political differences over the state of security along the U.S.-Mexican border.

From Obama's new outline for reforming immigration, here's the part about how illegal immigrants could become citizens. ------------------------------------------

WASHINGTON (AP) — The senior Homeland Security Department official in charge of arresting and deporting illegal immigrants announced his retirement the same day the agency said that hundreds of people facing deportation had been released from immigration jails due to looming budget cuts, accord

A whopping 71 percent Americans believe undocumented immigrants currently residing in the United States should legally be allowed to remain, according to a new poll from the Pew Research Center. 

"Supporters of a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants are unlikely to find a moment morefavorable to the case they have to make." That is the reaction of E. J. Dionne Jr. and William Galston to a survey of public sentiment on the issues surrounding immigration reform.

The recent bipartisan Senate proposal to reform the nation's immigration system isn't the first time a large comprehensive immigration reform package has been proposed in recent memory. The U.S. has had three major immigration packages over the past 30 years.

MANY Americans probably do not realise how dependent they are, or will be, on illegal immigrants. It is a familiar story when it’s revealed that a wealthy politician or political appointee once employed an illegal immigrant to do housework or work as a nanny. But even for those of us without an army of servants, the services low-skill immigrants provide looking after our children or caring for an aging parent play an important role in our economy.