This post by Freedom Folks highlights a problem I've mentioned before:

Being involved with the anti-illegal immigration movement as I’ve been for the last several years I’ve noticed certain phrases and attitudes that are problematic to the cause. One such phrase is “It’s the law,” or “what part of illegal don’t you understand?” 

While pithy these phrases actually contain the seeds of our destruction. Why? Because “the law” is a malleable thing prone to change in unexpected and not necessarily pleasant ways. It's The Law? Freedom Folks

John Podhoretz was shocked when someone told him that immigrationrestrictionists wanted fewer legal immigrants. This is a profound case of "not getting it"—Alien Nation wasn't called Illegal Alien Nation, the Federation For American Immigration Reform isn't the Federation For American Illegal Immigration Reform, and NumbersUsa isn't called IllegalNumbersUSA. Numbers are of the essence, never mind if they're legal or illegal.

The problem is that once the illegals become legal, there's a huge civil rights bureaucracy, originally designed to protect Americans, which would come down on towns like Hazleton like a hammer if they tried to defend themselves in any way, shape, or form.