So, what would you propose we do with the currently however-many-million illegal Mexicans who currently reside in this country.
Here is my proposal.
1. Control the border. Build the fence. Man the checkpoints. Stop those crossing illegally. Send them back.
2. Institute a citizenship track for those here illegally that requires them to register with the federal government and the state government where they reside. Take fingerprints, DNA, retinal scans, etc, to identify the person through biometrics, which will be entered in the national database. Issue them a smart card, encoded with this information, that is keyed to the national database. They will have the incentive to register because achieving citizenship is a possiblitity.
3. Require registered citizenship-track aliens to start following the law, or lose their status and be sent back to wherever they came from. So working under the table, drunk driving, domestic abuse, what-have-you, would all be punishable by deportation. Once deported, with effective border control, it will be difficult for them to get back in. And once an individual has lost his citizenship-track status, it should be well-nigh impossible for him to get it back, because they will be identified biometrically as a deportee.
4. Make achieving citizenship contingent on certain requirements, such as living here several years without breaking the law, learning to speak and write the language competently, being off the public dole, and learning US history and the basis of our government and civic responsibilities.
At the end of the process, say five years, we will have a new crop of citizens, who speak the language, understand their responsibilities, and have demonstrated an ability to comply with our laws. We will have weeded out those who don't want to assimilate, don't want to work, who are unable to obey the law, or do not learn the language.
I would say that at that point, we would be a heck of a lot better off as a nation than we are today.
I agree with your proposals, and I would add that we need to seriously revamp the means by which people are able to come here legally. SOME of the impetus for people to immigrate illegally, is born of frustration with the effort required to do it legally; the uphill battle against paperwork, bureaucrats, and interminable delays.
NOTE: I do NOT mean WEAKEN the process; I mean STREAMLINE it.
It does not need to be as hard as it is.
It does not need to take as long as it does.
It does not need to be so error-prone.
It does not need to be so complex as to require the services of immigration attorneys.