It all depends on what you believe
Dick Morris thinks that Republicans will throw away the chance of a generation if they do not get the new immigration law put in place. It is interesting to see what he thinks the bill actually will do:
they get legal status immediately on payment of a $5,000 fine, they must return to their country of origin and wait their turn in line for a valid green card to return legally. Only then can they become citizens. Given the seven- to eight-year wait for green cards, they would not be a potent political force until well into the next decade…
the bill commits the Democrats to the border fence and a major increase in border guards. It also will require tamper-proof identification cards, a key element in blocking further illegal immigration…
The compromise requires English skills, payment of a fine, and a good work history for an illegal immigrant to get citizenship. It also requires that he “touch back” in Mexico and wait his turn. The bill also puts border enforcement before the granting of rights…
This bill, unfortunately, allows current illegal immigrants to work immediately but defers giving them the franchise for almost a decade. It’s a bill a Republican should love.
It is arguably not such a bad bill, the way Morris presents it, though we don’t appreciate the cynical and snide attitude towards immigrants that he projects onto Republicans. The question at hand is whether you believe that the bill would actually function in the way that Morris describes. From a brief perusal of 35 years of laissez-faire on the immigration issue, the complete absence of an implementation plan for the current bill (or even a serious thought about implementation), this administration’s lack of follow-through on past promises regarding security and enforcement, and the current bias of the media, law and elite institutions in which claims of “compassion” nearly always trump obeying rules, there is considerable reason for skepticism.