What you are proposing is amnesty. The end of the line begins in their home countries. There are an estimated 3 million intending immigrants waiting their turn overseas. Some have waited years to enter. They have obeyed the law and completed all of their paperwork to enter this country as an immigrant. What kind of message does that send to them or anyone else wishing to enter this country legally?
Why must we allow people who entered our country illegally, committed ID theft, worked illegally, failed to pay taxes, etc. to stay and work here. Does the Rule of Law count for nothing? Conferring rights and privileges upon illegal aliens has a corrosive effect on the Rule of Law, the very foundation of our Republic. It is also a slap in the face to legal immigrants who have followed the rules and obeyed the laws.
Here is what we should do:
We need a pro-immigrant, low immigration policy that contains the following elements:
A merit based immigration system that brings in the skills and talents to keep us competitive in the global economy;
Reduced immigration levels based on need and more closely approximating 500,000 immigrants a year recommended by the Jordan Commission;
Elimination of extended chain migration, i.e., family reunification, limiting it to the nuclear family;
Enforcement of existing immigration laws to reduce the current illegal alien population and limit future illegal immigration, i.e., attrition thru enforcement. Enforcement would include: (1) ending the job magnet; (2) increasing coordination at the federal level by eliminating barriers to information sharing among agencies; (3) leveraging state and local enforcement resources; (4)securing the border and fully implementing the US-VISIT Program to track and deport visa overstays; and (5) make mandatory and improve such programs as E-Verify and 287 [g] authority to assist employers and law enforcement in identifying illegal aliens;
Elimination of birthright citizenship;
Ensure that anyone who enters this nation illegally is not rewarded by being permitted to stay and work here; i.e., no amnesty;
Streamline the processing and adjudication of immigration cases; and
Promote pro-immigrant measures that help newcomers assimilate and embrace the values and principles of our Founders and the Constitution.
I believe the politicians will never send the illegals back because they fear the looting and pillaging that will occur on the way back. It's the dirty little secret. We may have a regional war on our soil if we tried something like Operation Wetback again.
I don't want amnesty. Again, no citizenship, just temporary work status. We'll need a few years to flush out the worst of them.
Once we have control of the situation, a government of grown-ups can implement your plan.