[daysailor]

"1. We know who they all are

But they're already over the border, so legalizing them doesn't help to secure it."

Okay, let me try this:

1a. Everyone here now must register as a guest worker
1b. Any employer using unregistered immigrants gets smacked down
1c. Every immigrant knows they have to register if they're going to work
1d. They either register or leave.
1e. We wind up knowing who they all are after they register

I'm not saying it's perfect or that it will go off without a hitch. I'm just saying I understand the logic of it.

[inquest]

That still doesn't the point I'm making. Even if everything you describe will work perfectly (a huge, unlikely "if", given our experiences from '86), it still will do nothing to secure the border. It would only, at best, help cope with those already here. But the very common-sense point most people have been making to the GOP on this has been that when you have a flood, the first thing to do is cut off the inflow, and then the job of sorting through those already here will become a lot less worrisome. And legalizing those already here does not in any way help cut off the inflow.