Reihan has argued repeatedly, and effectively, that we should treat access to the U.S. economy, not to mention its extensive welfare state, as a scarce resource. We can debate and debate the best way of distributing this resource– from “not at all” to “come one, come all” and everywhere in between. But distributing it based on who manages most successfully to violate the law, at the expense of would-be immigrants who are honoring the process, is surely not a valid option.

Serwer blames the system:

Foster's concern about fairness is aimed in the wrong direction. Undocumented immigrants aren't being unfair to those who try to navigate America's baroque, outdated, and inefficient immigration system, that system is unfair to the people who try to follow the rules, because the system itself is dysfunctional.