[Edward64]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

I have not gone through the entire thread but this post actually addressed one of my issues with the conversation of immigration reform.

If this bill and the conversation in general is grounded in the principle highlighted above:

A caveat to my responses below. I don't really know the status of the Dignity Act right now and how it may be superseded by the more recent Ukraine-Israel-Taiwan negotiations.

Googling some recent articles from Nov/Dec tells me it's still alive and apparently has some bipartisan support. But, there's a WaPo article behind a paywall that I cannot read. So, under the assumption it's still alive and there continues to be a degree of bipartisan support ...

1. Doesn't that suggest that one side really only cares about increased enforcement and are completely against changes to the legal immigration system and a pathway for undocumented immigrants?

Assume this is directed towards GOP.

I don't know why you would conclude this? My post #115 immediately after provides a high level summary of key points. If there is bipartisan support, then post #115 shows that GOP is not "completely against changes to the legal immigration system and pathway for undocumented immigrants".

Per my post #115

1) Dreamers are in ... they have pathway to legalization but unsure if that means citizenship
2) Approx 11M illegals are in ... meaning pathway to legalization but likely NOT citizenship

2. Doesn't that suggest the other side only cares about the changes to the legal immigration system and a pathway for undocumented immigrants and are completely against increased enforcement?

Assume this is directed toward Democrats.

Again per #115 summary of key points, I would not conclude this.

1) Additional funds to Border Security. Approx $35B + $10B
2) Mandatory E-Verify

3.If the answer to both of those questions is yes, how does that trade work?

N/A

If the answer to both of those questions is no, why wasn't immigration reform completed decades ago?

Because both sides are not willing to spend the political capital and take the political risk to make it a Top-3 priority.

Imagine in the first 2 years of Obama Admin, or Trump Admin, or Biden Admin (when each President also owned Congress) what would have happened if wanted to make this top priority. But they didn't, they spent their political capital on other stuff like Obamacare, on Tax Cuts & Wall, on Pandemic & Infrastructure Bill etc. Then when they paid attention to it, they tried to slip it into another big bill, or 2 months before election day or BS like that.

Bottom-line. I don't like everything in the Dignity Act, and I believe some things are missing. But I do like a lot of things in it. I think both parties should compromise and make it happen. Don't let perfection stand in the way of good enough.