For a smart take against the immigration bill, check out Gar Lipow's argument over at Maxspeak. One quibble. He writes:
The legalization provision has two major requirements of those seeking to change status. One is payment of a substantial fee. That is not the overwhelming barrier it might seem. Most undocumented workers had to spend substantial sums to get here illegally, and the cost of continued undocumented status means even very poor people might find ways to borrow the money if that were the only obstacle. But the current versions of the bill also requires return to country of origin, a wait in the neighborhood of a year to eighteen moths, and a real chance of being turned down on fairly arbitrary grounds. That is one heck of a cost, and one heck of risk--one that I don't think many people will take.
I agree. But the reentry is only necessary for citizenship, it's not necessary for legalization. The legislation will immediately create a class of "Z" visas, which are indefinitely renewable and render the immigrant's status legitimate and protected. As far as I can tell, the primary difference is who gets to vote, and the barriers to full citizenship are heading off or delaying a giant new Democratic voting bloc, but the issue here won't be that these groups will remain in the shadows. They just won't be going to the ballot boxes.
