The FairTax, the national sales tax introduced in Congress by John Linder that would replace all federal income, payroll and estate taxes, would send a rebate to all persons with Social Security numbers to compensate for the sales tax paid for necessary purchases at the poverty level. Since illegal aliens won't have a Social Security number, they would be paying the national sales tax but would not receive the rebate (same with tourists). That would indeed be a disinsentive for illegal aliens to come to the U.S. to work, but given the low salaries paid in Mexico emigration to the U.S. would still be in high demand, but at least they'd be paying more than their fair share of sales taxes.
RE: Post #33
This seems to be a good line of thinking. To the point and unemcumbered. Too easy for bureaucrats.
Not at all. The huge cost of illegal immigration is the cost of the social safety net the US provides to the progeny of illegal immigrants over successive generations , chiefly education and health care. Children don't pay taxes.
Each child of an illegal immigrant costs the state of California, conservatively, between $200K to $300K from birth until age 18. These same children contribute little to the state tax revenues during that same period.