Our laws need to be enforced, and no one should be here illegally, but if we are going to fix this problem we can't get hysterical about their real motivations for coming here. 99% of it is economic. Some DO come for the welfare, but most come for labor, which (based on where they are coming from) IS welfare.
And studies I've seen say that legal or illegal, Hispanics learn English in a much shorter generational time than Germans and Swedes learned English in the 19th century. Again, it doesn't take away from the fact that they are here illegally, but the "La Raza" kind of emphasis by immigration reformers will only hurt the cause, especially if it's not true.
I agree with a lot of what you say but I'm not sure you understand the depth of the problem. Sure, they're here to work (a good thing) but many businesses that used to employ Americans have slowly replaced those folks with illegals that don't pay FIT or FICA themselves plus the employer gets to evade several types of payroll taxes that he used to pay so that add'l burden is shifted to other taxpayers and it's getting worse all the time.
Add to that these same employers can also pay them a minimal wage knowing full well that taxpayers will also be forced to supplement their employee's expenses for food, medical, housing, etc. Is this not the true definition of corporate socialism and an insane way to deal with this problem? These policies have been devastating to many hospitals, school systems, jails, etc. and it's only going to get worseas these idiots try to sneak through the FTAA and the American Union.
All this from the same groups of leaders that run deficit after deficit every year and have essentially bankrupted our country and are pulling every trick in the book to keep the illusion alive that we actually have the funds to be the world's welfare sugar daddy. You can't take such a simplistic outlook on this very serious problem if you want to see this country survive in it's present form........illegal immigration is without a doubt a key component of the DE-construction of this country.