What would a border policy acceptable to you look like?
Well for starters I'd have the federal government sell all the land it owns along the border. This would allow for private citizens to restrict the flow of illegal immigration on their own. Then it would be relatively easy to implement an immigration policy of immigration by invitation.
Also, I would remove all and any remaining trade barriers with Latin America. The more freedom there is to exchange goods and services with peoples abroad, the less desire there is to immigrate to the United States and operate within the American economy. If businesses are allowed to hire foreigners living in their respective countries, then there is less need for businesses to attract immigrants to work in the United States. Note that subsidies also matter in this regard. If California subsidizes its agriculture, Californian farmers have a distinct advantage when competing with Mexican farmers. Naturally unemployed Mexicans will seek employment from Californian farmers, as their own agriculture industry will not be able to compete with California’s. Similarly, if the United States continues the practice of heavily subsidizing its farmers it will force Mexican farmers out of work. It is no secret that many unemployed Mexican farmers will cross the border illegally in search of work.
Now what I mean by invited immigration is that American citizens and businesses would have the opportunity to invite foreigners to immigrate to the United States. Rather than expanding the government’s control of immigration, the power to restrict immigration would be vested in the people of the United States. This means that a businessman who whishes to import Mexican labor may do so insofar as the Mexicans that he grants passage to are restricted to his property. If and when an immigrant purchases residential property he is then entitled to permanent residency so long as he remains an owner of residential property; and he also may have the opportunity to purchase citizenship.
Of course, for this immigration policy to function appropriately it is necessary for all levels of government to at all times limit public ownership of property and reduce the largess of its welfare state. As to the matter of restricting immigrants’ access to government welfare, I would stipulate that each level of government should determine its availability on its own accord and with respect to the wishes of its constituents. However, it must be said that in order for a policy of immigration by invitation to work at maximum efficiency, a general policy of laissez-faire must be applied to all areas of government.