I think the FIRST order of business is to confer full citizenship on all of those people who have paid for and completed the legal steps for entering this country. Loosen the requirements on them and give them some applause for respecting the country enough to come here the LEGAL way. Then, and ONLY then do we address the matter of those who simply broke into our house and disrespected us. This would highlight the issue of legal vs. illegal and show people that there is at least SOME advantage to following the law.
How many legal immigrants do you want to admit per year? We already bring in 1.2 million. 4.5 million are in line overseas and many more will continue to add to the line? Clearing out the 4.5 million will just mean that more will fill the vacancies behind them.
We are already bringing in too many legal immigrants now. The nation’s immigrant population (legal and illegal) reached 40 million in 2010, the highest number in our history. The U.S. immigrant population has doubled since 1990, nearly tripled since 1980, and quadrupled since 1970, when it stood at 9.7 million. Of the 40 million immigrants in the country in 2010, 13.9 million arrived in 2000 or later making it the highest decade of immigration in American history, even though there was a net loss of jobs during the decade. Growth in the immigrant population has primarily been driven by high levels of legal immigration. Roughly three-fourths of immigrants in the country are here legally. With nearly 12 million immigrants, Mexico was by far the top immigrant-sending country, accounting for 29 percent of all immigrants and 29 percent of growth in the immigrant population from 2000 to 2010. The median age of immigrants in 2010 was 41.4 compared to 35.9 for natives.