Immigration

There is talk of some grand bargain that would resolve the status of millions of illegal aliens in the country. I smell an amnesty sell out. I hope I am wrong but let's just say that when talking about politicians my trust level is pretty close to zero. So is there anything that might move me to accept some kind of broad amnesty?

Yes.

The one thing that will forever remain an impediment to effectively limiting illegal immigration is birthright citizenship. It's enshrined in the 14th amendment in language that is, unfortunately, at least as clear as that of the 2nd amendment, which means we can't get rid of it without another constitutional amendment. And that is impossible without bipartisan agreement in both houses.

So here are my terms for supporting some kind of broad amnesty.

* Secure the border with Mexico. I don't care about a wall, but the border needs to be secured.
* End chain immigration.
* End the Green Card lottery. If we are going to legalize and absorb as many as ten + million illegals, well we just don't have any room for the others who played by the rules and waited for their turn. Sorry, you got screwed by the fence jumpers and their allies.
*Pass and send to the states for ratification an amendment abolishing birthright citizenship. If it can get out of Congress it will get ratified. There are plenty of states that will do it and fast. The number of states that will oppose ratification are high in population but few in number. California and New York each only count once.
*Require background checks and back taxes to be paid by those being granted residency.

If the Democrats can swallow those terms I can swallow an amnesty bill. That's a long term win in the fight against illegal immigration.