Senate Immigration Reform Seems Reasonable

Well at least there is a framework for negotiation that can be advanced. Doing nothing is not helping things and creates an unnecessary wedge issue.

—Creating a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already here, contingent upon securing the border and better tracking of people here on visas.

They don't say what "securing the border" is supposed to mean but tracking people on visas would be good start. I read somewhere that an illegal just needs to pay a fine and some back taxes or something and they can start on the path to citizenship. Maybe there needs to be a residency requirement as well. Maybe living in the country for 5 years or something.

—Reforming the legal immigration system, including awarding green cards to immigrants who obtain advanced degrees in science, math, technology or engineering from an American university.

This needs to have been fixed already. We want PHD candidates and things to stay in the country after college and contribute to the workforce. There should also be a path for these people to obtain citizenship if they stay and work for a certain period of time.

—Creating an effective employment verification system to ensure that employers do not hire illegal immigrants in the future, including requiring prospective workers to verify legal status and identity through a non-forgeable electronic system.

Sounds like a good enough plan. Make this similar to a LexisNexus search on the prospective employee

—Allowing more low-skill workers into the country and allowing employers to hire immigrants if they can demonstrate they couldn't recruit a U.S. citizen; and establishing an agricultural worker program.

As long as we can keep track of these low-skill workers then I have no problem with this. Have the department of agriculture keep track of this stuff.