Originally Posted by
verminaard
Reiterating El Gallo's point, why do you think the government does absolutely nothing to deport undocumented people, and is passing laws to ease their way into society? Because as a whole, they are a huge boon to the economy. Sure, some politicians will dole out some anti-immigrant rhetoric to get the racist vote, and some states will pass unconstitutional propositions through popular vote that will be overturned in court.
But all in all, anyone with half a brain with any clout in this country, be it politicians or business people or whatever, know our nation's economic growth needs a steady stream of immigrants providing cheap labor, and they are going to do nothing to disrupt this.
And once you accept that the powers controlling our state are more or less encouraging undocumented immigrants, and they are not going anywhere, it makes sense to integrate them into society, if for no other reason so you can keep track of individuals and tax them.