I agree with you 100 percent; and the people in Congress who are working on this problem right now agree with you 100 percent.
That being said, immigration is one of those areas where there is really only one solution, and no one likes it. You have to get control of who is coming in, or any program (save a rolling amnesty, which is the exception eating the rule) will not work. Accordingly, step one is gaining control of our borders (not necessarily with the military or even a paramilitary). But, no one wants to do what it’s going to take, so we will volley back and forth and not get anything accomplished. Same old, same old.
My opinion: nothing is going to happen. It's all talk.
At some point - soon - we need to move away from the talk stage. I'm hoping that is behind the Powell visit to Mexico.
You don't understand - something does happen when Bush and the Administration starts talking amnesty. The illegals really get desperate to get over the border before the window closes. We get swamped with illegals here in Cochise County, Arizona. The numbers go through the roof. This endangers the illegals, the BP Agents, the citizens, the desert (with all the trash and feces). Illegals pack themselves in vehicles, get in high speed chases, crash, etc. Human smugglers are more than happy to pack them into trucks, haul them to "safe" houses, hold dozens of them hostage in these houses, rape the women and girls, demand more money to free them, injure or kill some of them. We get overwhelmed and people DIE when Bush starts talking about amnesty.
The panty trees bloom in the desert when the numbers go up. What is a panty tree? It is a site in the desert where human smugglers get some of their "pay" for smuggling. You will usually find panties and many condoms near the area. Nice, huh? Want me to send you some photos?
The garbage and abandoned items at the human smuggling pickup points grows deeper. You see, the smugglers who pick up the aliens make them dump most of their belongings. It is really fun to see a child's backpack with a few meager toys and clothes dumped. You see a number of those. Who knows what "safe" house that young child has been sardined in with a bunch of criminal aliens without most of their clothes, their favorite blanket and their precious few toys. Or maybe they'll get caught in the cross fire as smugglers fight over the load. Or worse.
So, all this "talk" is not without consequence.