The house bill provide no concessions to illegal immigration. They argue that allowing illegals to become legal will result in more illegal immigration and punish legal immigrants. The emphasis is overwhelmingly on border security. The motivation is the possibility of terrorists entering the US, along with drugs and illegal immigrants.

The senate's bill deals with the root of immigration- the economic vaccuum created by jobs that Americans dont do, combined with border security. They recognise that a lot of illegal immigrants have been in the US for a long time, otherwise law-abiding, hard-working and tax-paying. A large number also have relatives that are US citizens, including children. Because of this, they propose legalising certain illegals and providing some of them a path to citizenship. Additionally they also provide for a guest worker program so that industries that depend heavily on foreign workers can survive.

My problem with the house bill is that it will require us to deport each and every illegal alien in the US. Is it appealing to our emotional anxiety over terrorism and xenophobic elements? Yes. Is it practically applicable? Not very.