The “problem” exists because for the last 30 years the politicians looked the other way and allowed it to grow.
Imagine if the IRS just stopped auditing rich folks and enforcing any tax law and then a few years down the road we threw our hands up in the air and said, “well... nothing we can do now. That money has moved around so much there’s no way we’ll ever really be able to account for it. Guess we’ll just have to reform our tax laws and legalize it.”
If we stopped enforcing building codes or any contract law. How about we stop enforcing gun laws and let anyone who wants a gun have one no matter if they legally can or not? It’d be nuts and it’d create a complete mess.
“well... nothing we can do now. That money has moved around so much there’s no way we’ll ever really be able to account for it. Guess we’ll just have to reform our tax laws and legalize it.”
We already did that with marijuana and gay marriage.
We already do that when we tell the American Indians who sue for getting their lands back which were signed by the US govt to forget about it.
And we already do that to some extent with the IRS and tax returns filed more than 3 years ago.
And we already do that if you are owed money from more than 3 years ago on an IRS return, you are out of luck.
And we already do that with many works of art that the west appropriated from undeveloped countries when we tell them, we got it and you are not getting it back. Many many wester art galleries are being asked to give their stuff back to the original countries because they were mostly plundered by western treasure hunters.
So, it is likely the illegals who have been here a long time are saying “we’ve been here, and we are staying.”