I agree that our country should have immigration reform. We need to have a law that would triple the fines, for employers who hire illegal aliens. That would usually cause employers to stop hiring illegals. When the illegals can’t find work, they’ll leave the U.S. Some employers will continue to disobey the law and be caught. When that happens, the fines should be used to build a brick wall, along the Mexican border and hire more border patrol agents.
Self-deportation works well. It is already being seen, and needs to keep going. Employer sanctions such as fines and jail time are one component of it that really needs to be stepped up, as you say. The goal must be for all illegals to leave the country, not to make them legal, for they are already lawbreakers by dint of their being here.
But I don’t think the .gov has the stones for it. Too many US Reps depend on the presence of illegals in their districts to keep them in power.