A path to citizenship: Cost versus benefits

enewscourier.com
By Adam Smith
October 23, 2011

Prior to the implementation of the state’s illegal immigration law, there were an estimated 185,000 illegal immigrants in Alabama.

Since the law’s passage, some immigrants have fled Alabama looking for work in states with less restrictive immigration laws. Others, who have maintained residence in the state for several years and who have American-born children, have chosen to stay behind.

Alabama’s passage of the measure made headlines nationally and internationally, and the law itself has become the basis of lawsuits from civil rights groups and the federal government.

It has also served to further polarize those for and against immigration reform while those most impacted by the law — the illegal immigrants — are stuck in the middle.

Arguably, one of the most overlooked questions in the rancorous debate has been, “Is there a path to citizenship that would benefit the state, business owners who rely on illegal immigrant labor and legal residents?â€