Basically, I want to use the stick and the carrot--if you make it easy and profitable to work within the law, most people will do so. Those apprehended in this country illegally would become ineligible for the bracero program for varying lengths of time or permanently, depending on the egregiousness of the offense. The big effect of this would be to get a LOT of folks out of America, because they'd want to be squeaky-clean before the bracero program started up.
Also, if you make it so that the braceros can make enough money to support themselves here and support their family in Mexico, the family is less likely to be up here--the mass illegal immigration problem didn't start until AFTER Congress killed the bracero program in 1965, because whole families started crossing so that the father wouldn't have to risk recrossing the border.
Good point. Even though I'm totally opposed to illegal immigration, I'm not opposed to some type of "guest worker" program as long as it was properly set up and strictly regulated and enforced, as was the pre-1965 Bracero program. As I mentioned in a previous post, I feel that this type of program would be somewhat necessary in the field of agriculture. But I haven't changed my feeling that mass uncontrolled illegal immigration into a particular geographic region can't help but have a negative impact over time.