[dcwusmc]

But the whole idea is (or SHOULD BE) to GET THE ILLEGALS OUT OF THE COUNTRY. That is their crime: Sneaking in the back door. So why should we reward that IN ANY WAY by punishment short of deportation and refusal to ever readmit? By deporting them and taking the biometric identifiers to KEEP them out, we tell them that their behavior was wrong and we will not put up with it. This is the ONLY fair way to do it, else the LEGAL IMMIGRANTS are being b*tch-slapped by FedGov.

[AzJohn]

But the whole idea is (or SHOULD BE) to GET THE ILLEGALS OUT OF THE COUNTRY.

I suppose people are going to have slightly diffent goals concerning immigration. Mine is to reduce illegal immigration to the lowest level that is workable. I don't want the current illegals to gain either citizenship or green cards ahead of those who did things legally. And I think the current illegals should pay some price for having violated the law. Basically I'm open to suggestions provided we stick to those principles.

There have been several proposals for penalties on those currently here illegally that fall short of deporting them. There have been suggestions that they pay a fine, or that they get a special visa that delays for several years their option to get legal permanent residence. Earlier in this thread reluctantwarrior suggested allowing them to apply for guest worker visas, provided they go back to their home country to do so.

The bottom line for me is that to have a solution that's politically possible I think we have to have options short of deporting and barring all of today's illegals.