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One of the problems with relying on border enforcement alone as a solution is that it takes two to tango - Mexico has got to cooperate from its side, too.

The problem is that Mexico relies on those dollars sent back by its immigrants. Legalizing the status of some of these immigrants will take away Mexico's fears of losing the income and ultimately get more cooperation from Mexico on preventing crossings and people smuggling from its side.

I also think that more cooperation should be exerted from Mexico in dealing with the criminals among its immigrant population, which it does not like to repatriate (for obvious reasons). And I think Bush's plan would give us more leverage to get Mexico to cooperate on this, too.

Mexico's prime concern is the money. Granted, Mexico has its own resources and doesn't need to be so poor and dysfunctional - but let's not forget that it's actually another socialist paradise, and like all of them, is a corrupt mess. But that's another matter.