Illegal Immigration: A Middle Path?

Up until now, I've largely stayed out of the illegal immigration debate. It's because I find both of the vocal sides in the debate too extreme in their views. On the one hand, you have the xenophobes and outright racists who while pretending to be against illegal immigration are against all immigration and anything that contradicts their image of a native, ethnically homogeneous (read white) America. On the other hand, we have people like Ted Kennedy and his left wing supporters whose amnesty proposals for illegal immigrants trivializes the hoops and mounds of paperwork that legal immigrants have to go through to enter and stay in this country.

I like this opinion article in the New York Times though. It's fair, realizes that the business culture we have nurtured till today is to blame for our illegal immigration problem, and allows any illegal immigrant that is employed a chance to live in the U.S. legally and chase the American dream. More importantly, it urges sanctions against employers who hire illegal immigrants. Isn't it convenient how those that vilify illegal immigrants as little more than scum turn a blind eye to the business interests that hire them and fuel this problem? If you ask me, it's these businesses that are the real scum, exploiting human misery to boost their profits.

Anyway, getting back to the time, I wonder if there a realistic hope that our politicians will do what's not politically expedient, but what's actually fair and reasonable?