These groups believe that the program is giving blanket amnesty and encouraging more illegal immigration.

President Bush denies that the program promotes amnesty. "I oppose amnesty, placing undocumented workers on the automatic path to citizenship," he said (FOX, 2004). "Granting amnesty encourages violation of our laws and perpetuates illegal immigration. America is a welcoming country, but citizenship must not be the automatic reward for violating the laws of America."

While the Constitution at first glance seems to oppose immigration reform, in fact it facilitates reform and even mandates it (Masugi, 2005). The Constitution states that all persons be counted, and illegal immigrants count as persons. This idea is supported by the example of the great American dilemma in which "other persons" -slaves - were counted as three-fifths of persons, therefore increasing the power of the slave states in the House of Representatives. Slavery, one of the biggest tragedies of American...
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