Wow has John McCain finally come to his senses and realized that America needs a border fence to stop the flow of illegal aliens, throw employers of illegal aliens in jail and cut off the access to jobs and social services that entice them to come here?

Let's analyze his latest statement on the issue.

Union Leader

Among the federal government’s most important obligations is to secure America’s borders and enforce sensible immigration laws that will keep our nation strong and safe. For far too long, Washington has failed miserably in this vital responsibility. An estimated 12 million people live in the United States illegally — a problem affecting every state in the union.

Hey hey, so far so good! Washington has failed the American people. It has not secured our borders, nor enforced immigration laws and has allowed this problem to balloon to the point of millions of unknown foreigners breaking into our country and remaining without repercussions.

... I have seen firsthand the effect that illegal immigration has on our communities and public services, the rampant exploitation of those who traffic in illegal aliens, and the tragic loss of life that so often attends this enduring problem. As a country devoted to the rule of law, fairness and opportunity, the status quo is simply unacceptable.

Yep, illegal immigration has had devastating impacts on communities public services, educational systems and health care systems throughout the country. There has been tragic loss of life of American citizens and legal residents of this country due to illegal alien criminals, gangs, sex offenders and traffic accidents. (or was he just referring to the loss of illegal aliens who die trying to get here, I'm not sure).

I couldn't agree more on this country being devoted to the rule of law and that the current path is the wrong one.

We know that most illegal aliens are drawn to the United States in the hope of finding a better life for themselves and their families.

I agree and since we are a country of laws we should cut off the perception that they can come here and achieve that better life illegally.

... we also know that others come to do America harm and will exploit any weakness or loophole to achieve their malignant objectives.

The truth is that our nation’s porous borders and failed immigration policies are a national disgrace, adversely affecting both our economic prospects and national security.

He's starting to sound like me. We must know who every person who enters this country is. That begins with closing off open areas where people can just walk in illegally by putting up a border fence since other means such as electronic surveillance and cameras haven't worked over the past decades and have allowed millions to get across.

So let's see these proposal Mr. McCain.

• Vastly improve our border surveillance and enforcement capabilities;
• Increase the manpower, infrastructure and capabilities necessary to block, apprehend, detain and return those who try to enter the country illegally;
• Strengthen the laws and penalties against those who hire illegal aliens and violate immigration law;
• Achieve and maintain the integrity of official documents to stop fraud, verify immigration status and employment, and enforce immigration law;

Sounds good so far. We need border surveillance and enforcement. But surveillance alone doesn't stop them. We need an actual barrier as well.

We surely need to increase manpower and capabilities for catching and deporting illegal aliens, including interior enforcement.

We need to actually prosecute, fine and jail employers of illegal aliens. There are already laws on the books, but they are not being enforced, which means any proposed increased penalties don't really inspire me since they probably won't be enforced either.

Of course we need fraud proof documents like social security cards and drivers licenses that follow the REAL ID Act requirements ensuring that only citizens and legal resident of this country have access to them and we need to improve the Basic Pilot Program and make it mandatory for all employers such as the proposed Mandatory Employment Eligibility Verification Act (H.R.19).

What else are you proposing? Come on, don't be shy, you've put all the goodies up front that most Americans agree with.

• Encourage immigrants to come out of the shadows so we know who is in this country and develop a sensible guest worker program that will serve the nation’s best economic and security interests.

Whoa, Whoa, Whoa! Hold on there! You had me nodding along with you and then you pull your real agenda out of the hat as the last item. Maybe in hopes of slipping it past people?

You try to sound all reasonable so people say "yeah, that sounds good, I agree" about 5 times and then slap this bullshit into their face in hopes they keep nodding along like a cheap salesman's trick? WTF!

So what does this "sensible guest worker program" entail? I've heard it referred to as "temporary".

We must devote the resources necessary to do the job right, and our efforts must be sustained. Imagine what we could achieve if we spent less money on pork barrel schemes such as “bridges to nowhere” and more on enforcing our immigration laws and other homeland security imperatives.

Yeah, we could build a 700 foot tall wall all along the southern border and hire about 500,000 immigration agents at the price of all the pork spent each year. But that doesn't answer my question. You slap that little "sensible guest worker program" statement in there and then you go back to something all Americans can agree with in hopes of getting them into the "yes, yes, yes" nodding movement again...

The need to bring illegal immigrants out of hiding and end the defacto amnesty that is the status quo is more important than ever in this post-9/11 era of terrorist threat. But this effort must never entail giving away citizenship to those who have broken our laws. Rather it should require those who voluntarily come forward to undertake the hard work of reparation and assimilation that we expect.

Bring illegal aliens out of hiding and deport them with no citizenship or green card is what the law requires, it's called enforcement and is already in place. As for them even being "in the shadows" they're marching down our streets in massive protests flying foreign flags and making demands, they're not exactly "in hiding".

He's saying they need to come forward and pay reparations and learn English (or "assimilate" as he calls it) and all will be forgiven. Let's see how this "plan he puts forth is not "giving away citizenship to those who have broken our laws" as he says above.

Legitimate status must be earned by paying stiff fines and back taxes, undergoing criminal and security checks, passing English and civics tests, remaining employed for six years before going to the back of the line to achieve legal permanent residence status, and adhering to other strict requirements.

So let me get this straight.

1. They are currently illegitimate and have broken our laws
2. They pay a fine
3. They pay "back taxes" (that they make up since they haven't been keeping track)
4. They go through a criminal background and security check using their false documents they've been using to live and work here with since if they use their real identity there will be no record of them living here for any period of time
5. Take a taxpayer funded English course and civics test
6. Stay in the United States for another 6 years (or having been here employed for 6 years proving that they are very good identity fraud and criminal illegal aliens by remaining undetectable for 6 years or longer in this country). They could possibly even produce fraudulent employment records showing they've been here for 6 years already since they're so good at fraud already.
7. They go to the "back of the line", but remain in the United States while legitimate people who have filed for legal residency in the United States have to remain in their country
8. All will be forgiven and they are given their green card and legal status thus allowing them to apply for citizenship and also to become a sponsor for their immediate and extended families into the United States in the future

What a great deal... for the illegal alien who has broken our laws and remained here. I mean they get to make up their income they pay taxes on, get free English language school, get to remain here without a threat of deportation and eventually become legal. They get all of this for breaking into our country and avoiding being deported and committing fraud for years.

How this is good for the American people is beyond me. Maybe we can save 10 cents on a head of lettuce. How much are taxpayer funded English language schools going to cost us? We already have an education system meltdown in this country and he is proposing creating a huge new bureaucracy to serve "12 million" (estimates range as high as 30 million) illegal foreigners instead of improving legal residents and American citizens school systems, all so we can have some low wage workers. It sounds like a horrible trade-off just to appease some criminal illegal aliens.

Who is this man serving and running for the president of? The illegal aliens or the United States Citizens?