February 19, 2014 5:21PM # What Both Sides Miss in the Immigration Debate By [Ilya Shapiro](https://www.cato.org/people/ilya-shapiro) --- SHARE That’s the title of my latest [Forbes column](http://www.forbes.com/sites/ilyashapiro/2014/02/19/what-both-sides-miss-in-the-immigration-debate/), which begins: > As chances for immigration reform fade ahead of this year’s congressional elections, the main sticking point seems to be the “pathway to citizenship” for those who are in the country illegally. > > > Reform opponents don’t want to reward those who break our laws, while activists on the other side refuse to consider a deal that doesn’t naturalize this entire population. Fixing our broken immigration system thus seems to turn on the question of what to do with the estimated 11–12 million illegal aliens living in our midst. (I’m reminded of John Candy’s final movie, *Canadian Bacon*, where a propaganda bit ominously decries: “Canadians: They walk among us.”) > > > But both sides are wrong to focus on citizenship and should instead target permanent resident status—otherwise known as green cards. Read [the whole thing](http://www.forbes.com/sites/ilyashapiro/2014/02/19/what-both-sides-miss-in-the-immigration-debate/), which includes a bit about the naturalization process that I’m now experiencing. ##### Related Tags [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Trade Policy](https://www.cato.org/trade-policy), [Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies](https://www.cato.org/herbert-stiefel-center-trade-policy-studies), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).