What do the illegal immigrants want? Open borders. When do they want it? Now.

Nine out of ten Americans view illegal immigration as a problem, but nine out of ten politicians won't do anything to solve it. Why? Illegal immigration benefits two groups: illegal immigrants and the businessmen who employ them. The former constitute an interest group within the Democratic Party; the latter are a substantial portion of the donor base for the Republican Party. Both parties have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo of porous borders and lawless hiring practices.

A second reason helps explain why the popular will has been thwarted: voters who feel most passionately about illegal immigration, legal immigrants and the businessmen who employ them, generally support lax enforcement of immigration laws. Huge majorities support restricting immigration (both legal and illegal), but those huge majorities aren't so affected by the issue as to vote solely on it. The hundreds of thousands of protestors, on the other hand, are personally affected by immigration laws and do--to the extent that they can vote--cast ballots solely on the immigration issue.