My illegal immigration "solution set"

1. Bust the employers of illegals. (Have some high-profile arrests and convictions with real sanctions including prison for repeat offenders. These violations are the stuff of sweatshops and child-labor violations.)

2. Secure our borders as much as possible.

3. Enact and enforce whatever additional fair labor laws are needed—including effective national ID in order to work, along with the right to organize as a union without the threat of deportation. (I think the trade-off between being allowed to organize and requiring an effective national ID in order to work would get us the ID we need.)

(Note: My response to those who are worried about national ID's is that passports have been around a long time. I have had one for years. And there are still so many ways to exist in the cash/barter economy below anyone's radar—if you can get along with those around you—that having a way to limit the unscrupulous sweatshop/child labor violaters is worth the trade off—in my opinion.)

4. Provide a humanitarian (but a realistically tough path to citizenship that does not simply grant amnesty) resolution for the workers already here—and who come in the future—who demonstrate a commitment over a reasonable length of time to becoming assimilated.

5. At the end of the day (some rational time period), aggressively deport those illegals who have not met the conditions for living here legally. (I believe effective implementation of 1 through 4 will reduce significantly the number we have to deal with in 5.)

Because of the results of the 1986 legislation (aka amnesty), this time we have to start with tough enforcement against employers and as much securty on our borders as possible. 1 & 2 are absolutely necessary, as well as 5 in time. 3 & 4 should be negotiated as to final resolution.