Another tool they could use, make it illegal to transfer money out of the country if you are in the country illegally.
No way to transfer money out of the country and the prospect of having all assets seized if caught, they will head back home.
“Another tool they could use, make it illegal to transfer money out of the country if you are in the country illegally.”
I don’t know that this would work. You’d quickly have a cottage industry of legal citizens renting out their ability to transfer money. Plus illegals have any number of informal ways to move money. Money orders are a big deal in the illegal world. Asset seizure would be much simpler to enforce. Most Americans would be surprised at how much real estate is controlled by illegal aliens.