Americans believe that a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants should require them to be placed at the end of the immigration line for green cards.

This seems reasonable, but I have a question. How long is the line?

The path to citizenship is a maze with dozens of legal paths, but with many different waiting times. Legal immigration is difficult. There is no waiting list at the American Embassy available to anyone willing to wait his or her turn. The most common means of immigrating are: (1) marry an American, (2) have a job skill we need, (3) be a close relative of someone who has immigrated, (4) come as a refugee and (5) win the green card lottery.

For many immigrants, there is no waiting in line. For them, immigration is simply a matter of waiting for government agents to process the paperwork. Included in this group are spouses, children and parents of American citizens.

The preference system, for those not immediately eligible, has categories for employment visas and family visas not covered by immediate relatives.

Immigration laws also contain provisions to prevent a few countries from using all of the available immigrant visas. No country can use more than 7% of the preference category visas. As a result, India and China have longer waits for employment visas. Mexico and the Philippines dominate in the family preference categories. You can find out the current waiting times by visiting the State Department's visa bulletin.

The March visa bulletin shows the longest employment waiting time is 10 years for skilled workers from India. The longest waiting time in the family preference system is 23 years for brothers or sisters from the Philippines.

However, we are talking how long those immigrating today have waited in line, not how long those just getting in line will have to wait.

When you look at the internal numbers kept by the State Department, you find Mexico has 746,137 applicants in the brother and sister category as of November 2012. Considering the per-country limits on the preference categories, this translates into a waiting time of more than 150 years.

India is next with a 50-year waiting period. In the category for married children, the total waiting time for Mexico would be 110 years, with the Philippines next at 91 years.

The White House recently proposed that the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants be given green cards after eight years, unless everyone in line gets through in less time. There is one thing all plans have in common: They show no understanding of our current immigration laws.

Our current family preference system produces older immigrants who are not required to have job skills. Many are too old to work the minimum 10 years required for Social Security benefits. However, they will qualify for SSI and free medical care.

Immigration reform needs to address more than the 11 million illegal immigrants living in the United States. We have 4.4 million aliens with approved immigration petitions who are waiting in what is becoming a very long line. It is time for Congress to address this issue. It may be time to abolish some of these categories. Why do we need siblings and grown children of American citizens if they will be too old to work once they immigrate?

How long should illegal immigrants be asked to wait before getting a green card?

The President's plan would give illegal immigrants a green card after eight years. Requiring all illegal immigrants to wait at the end of the longest line could take between 50 and 75 years, using the current State Department regulations and subtracting those who die waiting in line.

I propose that we eliminate family visas except spouses and children of American citizens and legal residents and that we abolish the green card lottery.

These two steps will reduce annual immigration by 300,000.