You make a very good argument and I fully understand it. However, having seen the living conditions in border towns and deeper within Mexico, I can fully understand why one would illegally come to America. If I lived in a one-room tin and tarpaper shack in Ciudad Juarez, burning tires for warmth in the winter and having to step over raw sewage in the unpaved streets, I would sneak my family over to America in a heartbeat.
I blame the US more for not enforcing the laws than I blame the Mexicans who cross the border. We wouldn't have this problem if the federal government had been doing its job. Not only that, but many cities -- including Dallas -- have made it illegal for police officers to ask for proof of citizenship. This is a travesty.
I don't propose an easy amnesty. Any illegal immigrant who has committed a felony should be given a one-way ticket back to Mexico. If they try to come back, put them in jail. I also believe that illegal immigrants should pay a hefty fine for having lived here illegally and should be required to learn English before being issued a visa. It's essential that they be strongly encouraged to adopt the culture of the US.
Reasonable people can disagree on this issue. My experience has been that the vast majority of illegal aliens are good, hard-working, moral people who are, in essence, refugees from a corrupt country. You would not want your family to live in the conditions that they have endured in Mexico. I tell my wife (only halfway in jest) that the best thing that could happen to Mexico would be for the United States to annex it and install a new government.
I think we can agree that the US needs to build an impenetrable border from San Diego to the mouth of the Rio Grande. Then we can worry about those who are already here.
It is not just about Mexicans and/or Mexico. People by the millions are in this country from all over the world illegally.
And you can build the wall and put the employers in jail at the same time.
But this administration doesn't want to do squat.