Get Them in the System

The goal of most Americans is not to deport most or all of
the 12 million people illegally living and working here, rather it is to have a
system that is under control and where everyone is playing by the same rules
that are evenly enforced. The way we get
there from here is to:

  1) Expand legal avenues so that people can come with a
visa rather than a smuggler using their real names, with rights, but also with
reasonable limits based on the growth (or lack thereof) of our economy (much like
the money is regulated by the Federal Reserve).

  2) Clear out the backlogs which
have some people waiting more than two decades for legal immigration. These first two actions would do a great deal
to replace the illegal flow with a legal and orderly flow; and

  3) Within a five
year period, force all those here illegally to come forward, pass a criminal
background check, get in full compliance with tax laws, and get on a path to citizenship
with all of the responsibilities that implies.  

Those who don’t pass or who don’t come forward will now stick out rather
than blend in, making enforcement at the border and in the workplace much
easier and if efficient. This is how we
build a new, legal, and enforceable immigration system to replace the crumbling
one we have now.