What needs to be done is divide the number of immigrants we are going to allow by four, and give them out equally among the continents of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the combined Americas. Any year when a continent didn’t have enough people apply for the immigration visas allotted; those visas would be divided equally between the continents that have more people applying than visas available.
Everyone would come as a legal alien and pass a test in English and Civics before they could apply to become immigrants. After they are immigrants for 5 years they can apply to become citizens, IF, they haven’t committed any crimes, used any government paid social service, or failed to pay their bills on time.
We should do like the UAE does (or used to do) with other visas like students, tourists, businessmen, etc. They make you have a sponsor to get a visa. They give you a slip of paper when you arrive that has to be turned in to get out of the country. If that paper isn’t turned in by the expiration date, they arrest your sponsor, hold him in jail until you are found and deported, then they fine him.
They don’t have an illegal alien problem. Nobody overstays his visa.
That's an interesting approach.
Those who are genuinely focused on this issue and not just trying to engineer GOP defeats for whatever reason could study at approach. The first step is to get people to understand that We Don't Have Enough Workers. Once that is accepted, people can look rationally at options.
Clearly one cannot reward illegal behavior, and a fine is certainly not a reward. I think most folks on here (those who are genuine) who demand a return to the border and "getting at the back of the line" don't understand that the processing of that line is going to have to accelerate so that it lasts only about 20 minutes. We have to have more working age people and southward the only economically available pool. Once it is understood that the line only lasts 20 minutes, the trip to the border seems a lot less important than paying back taxes and a fine.
The UAE approach you describe could allay concerns about cheating. Forgery of the visas could be made an enormous offense and that would be that.