I heard the process took awhile, but I didn't know it could be that long. A few weeks ago, I was saying that for maybe six months or so, the process should be accelerated or at least simplified. Responsible people will go ahead and get their documents; those are the people we'd want here.
Irresponsible people won't care, and we can do without having them here. When the six months are up, they're SOL, and started getting shipped out. Combined with shutting down the border, we might see some progress.
The six month grace period allows us to at least show a degree of compassion, and on the other side of the coin, we can wash our hands of the issue and say we gave people a chance.