Two important articles on the immigration reform debate were published today, and I’m adding both to The Best Resources About The New Push For Immigration Reform:

The first is from a New York Times columnist, David Brooks, who I often criticize when he writes about education but also often praise when he writes on other topics he knows something about. He writes about immigration in his piece headlined “The Easy Problem”. He takes on a lot of the typical arguments against immigration reform and then ends this way:

The first big point from all this is that given the likely gridlock on tax reform and fiscal reform, immigration reform is our best chance to increase America’s economic dynamism. We should normalize the illegals who are here, create a legal system for low-skill workers and bend the current reform proposals so they look more like the Canadian system, which tailors the immigrant intake to regional labor markets and favors high-skill workers.

The second big conclusion is that if we can’t pass a law this year, given the overwhelming strength of the evidence, then we really are a pathetic basket case of a nation.

Another important article from The Washington Post deals with what may be one of the most critical, if not THE most critical, question in the debate — what and when is the process for the undocumented who are here to become citizens? The article reviews typical waiting times (you can get the sense of them by the title — How long is the immigration ‘line’? As long as 24 years ) and ends this way:

Immigration advocates worry that the promise of citizenship could end up being “in name only” for some undocumented immigrants. ”Instead of dying in the desert, they might just die waiting to become permanent residents,” concludes Paparelli.