But the political climate has moderated, and many Republicans are being forced to accept, if not outright embrace, some form of legalization for the illegal immigrants already in the country.
Representative Lamar Smith, Republican of Texas, said that a "true" guest worker program would have to be a "short" guest worker program, seeming to rule out the possibility of any form of legalization for the workers.
The goal, Democratic aides said, is to create a situation where House Republicans are pressured to either vote on this plan — or to offer an alternative of their own, which very likely includes at least some form of legalization, and could proceed to negotiations between the House and the Senate.
But the bigger picture here is that Eaze needs the money to establish itself as a recognized delivery brand both in and out of California, especially as several states have now legalized the use of marijuana and nine more states have legislation on the November ballot relating to some form of legalization.
At that meeting, he gave members the impression that he was open to considering some form of legalization for undocumented immigrants already in the U.S.
Uruguay, where personal use has never been criminalized, is moving toward some form of legalization and regulation of the sale of marijuana.
When lawmakers finally do attend to immigration reform, a path to some form of legalization will be part of the equation.
In sum, the message is that the government that presides over the nation with the largest illegal drug market in the world and actively funds a global war to enforce ineffective prohibition policies will not consider any form of legalization.
