This needs to be repeated. Your whole post is a great one and I wish it was required reading by every American citizen because most people have no idea how the process works or what is involved. I do not think it should be easy for citizens of other countries to become citizens for various reasons- one being if it is easy where does the appreciation come from of being a citizen? Also the fact that we DO NOT want anyone and everyone to be able to be citizens since that would include criminals and terrorists. The only way to exclude anyone is to have a process meaning it won't be fast to get through any legitimate process. I would like to say concerning people coming here from Mexico specifically since there seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about that. There is and has been for ages a process for Mexican citizens to come here LEGALLY to visit, work, and even obtain citizenship and in fact citizens of Mexico are given additional consideration above all other countries- mainly because we allow them to LEGALLY come here in far larger numbers than we allow from other countries.
I get extremely angry when some stupid politician or reporter says "we need a legal process for illegals to come here" as if there is no way for them to do it legally. Many believe this because they don't bother to inform themselves how it all works so it is easy for the media and politicians to sway many people toward supporting ILLEGAL immigration until we have "immigration reform." The only immigration reform we need is to strictly enforce immigration laws and deport all illegals.
Amen.