[Trust but Verify]

We've had illegals coming across the border FOREVER. There is no reasonable, doable plan to 'close the border' that I have ever heard of, that would also be effective. If you are proposing putting up a barrier or posting a soldier every 5 yards, you could probably have an impact. But what would the cost of that be, and where would all these soldiers come from?

We cannot interdict every single person of foriegn origin without becoming a police state.

[John H K]

The one thing that will stop illegal immigration is enough economic development and prosperity in Mexico and South America that people aren't really motivated to leave (and economic opportunities don't have to MATCH this country, just be reasonably close; I think the average person really does like their home and culture and only leaves out of desperation.)

Of course, getting those countries to that point MIGHT involve some factories and such being built or moved to those countries and those goods being sold in the US (gasp!) and the same people that obsess about illegal immigration are the same people that think it's immoral for the US to import anything but raw materials, so you can see it's a bit of a dilemma.