They can't enforce the existing laws because the existing laws don't contain adequate mechanisms for enforcement. The laws must be changed.
You cannot effectively enforce immigration laws unless you have a working identification system. The current system makes it much too easy for immigrants to forge required documents and for employers to plead ignorance. We must have an electronic swipe-card I.D. with a central database, like a credit card. One swipe, and an employer or INS agent knows instantly whether or not someone is here legally. And that system needs to be interconnected with the IRS so that only those immigrants employed by employers who are paying withholding taxes under that immigrant I.D. number will have valid I.D.'s.
Not working? I.D. says you are not here legally. Getting paid under the table? I.D. says you are not here legally. Limited social benefits to those immigrants who are permitted to stay, no anchor babies or anchor families, and a secure border, etc. That type of program requires changes to the law, and some compromise to get there. But if you get a workable, non-forgeable I.D. system with instant verification, you will have gone a long way towards addressing the problem.
I agree. This seems to be the main need for new law, and apparently it has been developed and tested and is ready to roll out. "But if you get a workable, non-forgeable I.D. system with instant verification, you will have gone a long way towards addressing the problem." The only other thing is the fence some want, but I think we will be calling that the Southern Dig before it is done.
The problem with existing laws is two laws were passed in the late 90s that made it much harder to deport illegal aliens. (The reason why you saw a huge drop in illegal alien deportation after 1998).
One law (i) (INA § 203(b)(2)(B), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(2)(B)) required enforcement to give an alien the opportunity to prove they qualify for a work visa if they request it. By the time that process happens, the illegal falls off the radar. This law had good intentions in that it was written to bring more highly skilled immigrants in, such as doctors. But like most laws, the law of unintended consequences and loopholes caused more problems than good.
Worst of all is the The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRAIRA). Under this law, deportation can be suspended if the illegal alien can prove that they have been in the US 'for a considerable period of time' and has 'good moral character'. Illegal aliens who fall under this are given the opportunity to apply for whatever work visa or asylum they may work for.
It's not all 'Bush's Fault' like so many want to keep saying. The problem we have with illegal immigration right now is the result of decades of bad laws, starting, and mostly due to LBJ (Hart-Celler).