Earlier this month, I made an oblique reference to a forthcoming article in National Affairs:
One idea, that we will discuss at greater length in the months to come once an article by a leading immigration scholar is published in a forthcoming issue of National Affairs, is to legalize a broad swathe of the undocumented population by (a) offering a path to citizenship for those who entered the U.S. as children (the DREAM-eligible population) yet (b) allowing most of the rest of the undocumented population — those who have generally law-abiding, etc. — to become lawful permanent residents who are barred from naturalization. Some will see this as draconian while others will see it as unduly generous, but I found the argument convincing and I am eager to share it with you.
The article, “Splitting the Difference on Illegal Immigration” by Peter Skerry, a political scientist at College best known for his work on the social and political integration of Mexican immigrants and, more recently, Muslims in the U.S., is now available online. It deserves to find a wide audience. More to come on this subject.