This is Rudy Guliani's approach to crime in NYC: arrest even the smallest offenders, and pretty soon everything gets cleaned up. The point about immigration all along was that we didn't have to deport 12 million. Just deport a few, and the rest will get the message; and put a few employers in jail, and the rest will comply with the laws.
You are right..zero tolerance and the rest will get the message.
Now we need to prosecute those who hire illegals with equal force. Work on supply and demand.
Get those meat packing jobs back up to $17 per hour..or whatever it takes. We will just pay more for beef, pork and chicken. Or eat less(we are mostly overweight).