The fact is, whichever candidate conservatives end up choosing, his policy will be well short of the wholesale crackdown that a small minority continues to demand. Based on their own records, neither Cruz nor Rubio supports the logistically impossible and cost-prohibitive policy of deporting more than 10 million people. So what positions exactly will be “in bounds” as Republicans go forward?

To advocate for the dreaded “A-word” — amnesty — is to microaggress a certain kind of conservative. The word has been deployed successfully and repeatedly to create fear and crush any hope of changing the current status quo. And as others have argued previously (including Rubio), the current situation amounts to a de facto amnesty, because very few are punished under the current laws, and each time reform is blocked stronger enforcement of immigration laws is sacrificed for the sake of keeping the unenforceable laws exactly as they are now.

What qualifies as “amnesty?” A grant of citizenship? Permanent permission to work in the U.S.? Temporary permission? A special procedure for dealing with illegal immigrants currently in the U.S. that does anything besides deport them? A continued chance for permanent residency through existing processes, which amounts to forgiveness of the earlier illegal act of entering the U.S.? An expansion of legal immigration so as to obviate the enormous demand for illegal immigration? A policy of prioritizing certain deportations (of felons, for example) over others?