The definition of amnesty debate.

Rep. Pence's claim that his proposal represents "the rational middle ground" -- an open-border Bushism that Pence uses nine times in his sales pitch, apparently in an effort to convince someone, possibly himself. The middle ground is no more inherently rational than any other position in a debate. If I think that 2+2=4 and Ted Kennedy thinks 2+2=6 (Big Dig Math), the middle ground would be to declare that 2+2=5. But the rational thing to do is to stay true to the facts. That's the beauty of being correct -- as opposed to being a moderate.
The current debate over what to do with immigration criminals is a similar binary situation. We are either going to make them legal or we are not. Any plan in which they are made legal, whether they travel home with a guarantee of readmission or pay a fee or do a little dance, is an amnesty. The details just amount to haggling over price. No immigration limit will be obeyed, no law will be feared, no guest worker will be temporary, no expired visa will be respected, and no end to this debate will occur until we resolve to begin deporting those that are not supposed to be here -- just like we did at Ellis Island, our beloved fortified island detention facility. That is not to say we have to have "mass deportations" over one long weekend. We can take our time and do it gradually.
But it has to be done. A reluctance to deport is what created our current massive problem and what drives otherwise intelligent and admirable men like Representative Mike Pence to come up with impractical and tortured amnesty-for-tourism schemes in search of an irrational middle ground that avoids the unpleasant necessity of deportation.

Nothing needs be added to this poignant and wonderful article.