Throughout our country’s immigration history, we have created many types of immigration options that do not lead to citizenship. Even long time permanent residents (Greencard holders) who immigrated legally to the USA are not required to become citizens and a great percentage of them never feel the need to do so as they are able to be fully functioning members of American society without being citizens.

After listening to the President’s speech, I also assume that you understand the only difference between the eligibility criteria the President proposes and the eligibility criteria already imposed on lawful immigrants is the imposition of an additional filing fee. Saying “They must take responsibility for their actions” sounds good, but in reality there is no significant difference and a pathway to citizenship sends the wrong message.

In reality, there is really not that much more we can add when it comes to the eligibility criteria for illegal immigrant applicants (when compared to the eligibility criteria for lawful immigrants). Instead, the only real difference and the only real opportunity to send a message is to instead adjust the benefit received…. To differentiate it from the benefits available to those who didn’t violate immigration law.

The message is simple: Follow the immigration laws and you will have the opportunity to become a U.S. citizen one day if you choose to do so. Break the immigration laws by entering illegally and you don’t have the option to become a U.S. citizen.

I believe the chance for agreement between those in favor of amnesty and those opposed to amnesty will be increased with a pathway to legal status that does not lead to citizenship. This should help with the concerns of those who don’t want to see one political party get a windfall of new voters, and who understand how unfair it is to reward lawbreakers with the same status as those who have waited patiently in line for years to immigrate legally to the USA.

The reality is that no matter how the amnesty is designed, there will always be those who do not qualify and they will just illegally enter the USA so we are sure to face this same problem again one day. In the late 80s we gave amnesty to 3+ million illegal aliens and they were replaced with 11 to 20 million more. Keeping citizenship off the table is really the only sensible message to send to the millions who may contemplate illegal entry into the USA at some future date.