gwern, the reality is actually reverse. Obama/democrats wants a comprehensive immigration reform that includes dealing with the existing illegal immigrants in US. He dont want to deal legal immigration and illegal immigration separately. Thats the reason the recent startup visa was dead on arrival.

There is a wide gap between what republicans say to us and what they put on ballot. So far they have not been interested in immigration reform or immigration enforcement. Illegal immigration would drop overnight if they enforced real laws against the companies that hire illegal immigrants. But they focus on the, easily replaceable, migrant workers.

An example, the state of Georgia wrote their own law on legal hires. Now, they are having difficulties retaining fruit pickers for the summer harvest.