The latest tea parties genious on the block is Mike Stopa, who's running as a Republican for the third district in Massachusetts. He has a plan to stop illegal immigration (stopaforusrep.com/Illegal_immigrants/Illegal_immigrants.html) that's unworkable, most likely leading to the opposite of what he claims to want in the unlikely event that it could ever be enacted. If others proposed this plan I'd suspect that they were just trying to put on a show of doing something, but in his case I somewhat suspect he might be for real. He also has no real plan as to how to push his idea forward despite the massive resistance that it would encounter. He also thinks the INS still exists; it was disbanded going on seven years ago.

Here's the plan:

Upon entering Congress I will press immediately for a bill which gradually, and with due humanity toward those affected, works to re-patriate illegal aliens currently in our country. I will work with fellow members of the House majority on a bill on temporary amnesty, which independently extends temporary working rights to foreign nationals illegally in our coutnry and simultaneously and independently extends freedom from future prosecution to employers, both in exchange for registration, within a fixed period of time, with the federal government. I propose that illegal aliens be required to register with the Immigration and Naturalization Service within three months of the bill going into effect and that upon registration they be given the right to work in the United States for one year before returning to their home country. Failure to do so would subject them to immediate deportation. Similarly, the bill will give employers three months to inspect their payrolls and report any violations of immigration law in exchange for freedom from future prosecution.

1. The illegal immigration problem goes much deeper than any legislation can address; it's a "mind" issue that can't be solved with brawn alone. There's no longer child labor in the U.S. partly because of the laws against it but also because those in the establishment who could be enlisted to support it realize that such support would end their careers. We need to get to the same spot with illegal immigration, "training" those in the establishment that supporting or ignoring illegal immigration will have an impact on their careers. The tactics to get there are described here.

2. Stopa's plan isn't like that. His plan would be met with massive resistance from the far-left, the Democrats, business, labor, many top Republicans, the media: the entire establishment would be arrayed against him. His plan would deprive them of money and of power, and they aren't going to let that happen. There's nothing on his page even hinting at how much resistance his plan would meet or what he would do about it.

3. In the unlikely event that his plan passed, the aforementioned groups would work night and day to make permanent what his plan thinks would just be temporary. Newly-legalized illegal aliens who were supposed to leave wouldn't leave, and it would be very difficult to enforce his mandatory deportations provision. The American Civil Liberties Union would clog the courts with case after case. And, within that one-year period hundreds of thousands of those who were supposed to leave would have had U.S. citizen children, making deporting them even more difficult.

4. Note also that Stopa is promoted by Glenn Reynolds at pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/94517

5. Please see #1 for how to actually resolve this issue.