But immigration reform must also deal with the millions of undocumented immigrants
already in the country. And it must recognize the fact that immigrants labor plays an
important role in our economy. Some legal channel must be devised for persons currently
living illegally in United States to win permanent residency and perhaps the opportunity
for citizenship after living and working in the country for a specified number of years.
(The word amnesty is now politically unacceptable; some other term must be used to
describe how current illegals can gain legitimate status.) And some sort of highly controlled
temporary worker Program must be devised to provide the labor that the nation seems to need. But again, these reforms cannot be put in place until the nation's borders are controlled.