Undocumented means unprotected
The headline in the news was as follows: “Obama's Attorney General Nominee: Illegal Immigrants Have a Right to Work in The United States.”
If an illegal immigrant has a right to work in the U.S., then he has a right to come here to work. Thus, there is no illegal status, which is why the left identifies such individuals as “undocumented.” This means there is no required “process” by which someone becomes “American” other than to be inside the border.
If there were a process, then it would be illegal to come here without being processed, but the term “illegal” has been denied as applicable. So you can come here, without being processed (i.e., it is not required), which makes one undocumented, but who is entitled to work. That leaves only two reasons to guard the border. The first is to prevent bad people from entering. The second is to teach good people what it means to be American – i.e., set them on some path to understand the legal requirements to being American. The second of these reasons has been dispensed with as a requirement, thus you can come here and be undocumented. So, back to the first reason, to keep bad people from entering.
How do we do that if you can come in, be undocumented, get work, and stay?