5 steps to fix immigration

Your traffic law comparison is inapposite. Traffic laws provide for penalties, which typically include fines. Immigration law, on the other hand does not have such penalites (except for employers). Instead, immigration law includes deportation as a penalty.

It is a stinking mess, allowed to become a mess by Washington, who made it a mess to begin with. So, how do you clean up a mess? Throw it out, get rid of it and start over, clean slate, new regulations in a new decade with different problems. I wrote a post about the current EEVS and how to create a system for employers to use daily to check status of an applicant. Perhaps too simple, but Washington could use a little simplicity.

I agree, the illegals now here in the country could never and would never be rounded up and sent back home. So, we've got to register those really interested in becoming Americans, remaining crime free, working and paying their own way like the rest of us, and learning English and taking civic classes in order to pass the citizenship test. Those that do not come forth would be caught by the system of employment eligibility checks, or the law eventually. Even the ones not intending to become real Americans would have the incentives of registering, work.

But, the Political Action Committees run the show.

I did peruse your article, though I'm not sure that my opinion on this is liberal.

I agree with those who say we should stop or control the flow of Mexican illegals first. My first thought is about the market for illegals,i.e., the demand for illegals and market signals. Apparently most of the illegals have jobs, either with employers or as business owners. Of course as illegals acquire income and wealth and have more children the market for more illegals grows.

The bottom line on this is that if there aren't any jobs in the U.S. which are better than those in Mexico the supply will diminish substantially.
It will take time to communicate this to the population in Mexico.

I'm of two minds on spanish speaking people coming to the U.S. I get very annoyed when people around me - sometimes people that I ask questions of or want to do something for me - don't speak english. But I'm not sure that there are grounds to insist that the U.S. be an English speaking country. It's more comfortable for me, but I'm not sure that it's any more than that.

I also have some skepticism about building the fence. I see where Americans in Texas near the border have a problem with a fence that keeps them from going back and forth, running their animals back and forth, etc. It's going to be expensive and we're not sure that it will have the desired effect, i.e., will be cost effective.

I noted your suggestion to use drones and other technology and that's a good idea, plus to beef up the border patrol numbers. Over all I do have a problem with concentrating so much on enforcement, etc. I think that concentrating on incentives and dis-incentives would be a better approach in the long run.

Though I went over your post quickly, I noted you did address this in terms of trying to stimulate better opportunities in Mexico through loans, etc. That sort of approach I think would be the best long run approach, working with Mexico to achieve economic based solutions.