Giuliani's Immigration Plan: Amnesty Or Not?

By Martin Kady II

(The Politico)  Rudy Giuliani says he would allow a significant portion of the nation's illegal immigrant population to stay in the country as long as they paid a fine, paid taxes and got in the back of the line in applying for citizenship.

But does his plan, laid out on Fox News Sunday this morning, amount to "amnesty," that dreaded catch phrase in the immigration debate.

"Not at all," said Giuliani, who desperately needs to win the Florida primary later this month to stay in the GOP race. "They would have to pay fines. ... They would have to get in line" to apply for citizenship.

Giuliani says his immigration plan would call for a border fence, high tech identification of immigrants and deportation of illegal immigrants who commit crimes. Still, that would leave potentially 10 million illegal immigrants in the United States, and Giuliani says his plan calls for a "self selection process" in which illegal aliens who want to stay in the country would be photographed, finger printed and pay taxes on their wages.

Still, any immigration plan that even hints at a path to legitimacy for illegal immigrants is going to stir controversy within the Republican party. Sen. John McCain, fresh off his New Hampshire primary win, was booed at a campaign rally yesterday where he laid out a path to legal residency for illegal immigrants.

Giuliani said it's unrealistic to try to deport every illegal immigrant. "It's numbers the government can't deal with," he said.

Stay tuned to see how Giuliani's trial balloon on immigration goes over with the party base he needs to woo to stay competitive.