"...the ability to earn citizenship by demonstrating a sound character, a commitment to America..." Sound character, like that of someone breaking US law after US law, which also demonstrates some of that "commitment to America?" We don't have to round up and deport all illegal aliens. We just have to enforce even existing law, deport those who "come out of the shadows" while we do so, and let the rest leave on their own when our jobs and services are no longer available to them. Obama is just another part of our "broken politics." Our government is broken and corrupt, and we have become simple packrats, hoarding junk.

That is gobbledygook. Under current law, most of the people in question are deportable, so "enforcing existing law" would mean rounding them up and deporting them, despite the constant denials. Also, you may not have noticed, but they don't wear scarlet letters, so finding them and rooting them out, or denying them jobs, is no simple matter. Plus, they are workers and consumers, so if they _were_ to leave it would hurt our economy... that's the economy the rest of us depend on. Of course, one sure way to reduce illegal immigration would be to do that, and take other missteps, so that we enter an economic depression. That way, all of those supposedly undesirable immigrants would want to go somewhere else. Wouldn't that be great? :-(

The "rounding them up" part is impractical, for one of the reasons you stated. They don't wear scarlet letters. So the most obvious way to enforce our perfectly sensible and necessary law is to deny the services we work for that are freely given to these criminals, as well as to deny them American jobs. Of course it will sting our economy, but not because we need these criminals. It will sting because greedy corporations (including corporate farms) would choose, at least at first, to raise prices. That we need illegal aliens to fill our jobs is gobbledygook. That we need to make our social services available to them while denying US citizens is gobbledygook, as is that we need our identities stolen. And in case you haven't noticed, our economy isn't doing so well with (partly because of!) us turning a blind eye to illegal immigration. Maybe it's because they aren't entirely paying the taxes we do, and the money they make here is largely being sent to their home countries while they drain our social services and school funds and strain our justice system.

Obviously [Sanity Please] you prefer profit to your Country your Culture and your Language.... you are exactly the type of economic traitor we can use less of nowadays. You say " one sure way to reduce illegal immigration would be to do that, and take other missteps"? Enforcing our laws and protecting US citizens and the US middle class in your opinion is a "misstep". God save us from these greedy POS we have amoung us.....like Sanity Please.

Chell? Your hot! And a true American! God Bless you! We need millions more like her.

They come for all sorts of reasons. E.g.: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-me-liver13apr13,1,1803124.story They certainly don't all come to work. And if that is the sole reason and you wish to maintain citizenship and allegiance to a neighboring country it's legitimate to ask 'Is that who we wish to use limited immigration slots on?' After all, there are plenty of people around the world who want to become 100% American. And that is just referring to legal immigration. It's annoying enough when people act like wanting to make more money is some special virtue. But then some of the apologists even turn breaking U.S. law into an even greater virtue. Line jumping and law breaking aren't just condoned but applauded for courage and ambition.

'Enforce existing law' doesn't mean round 'em all up. It does mean build the fence that was mandated. It means round up and deport the criminal element, and deport the rest when discovered in the normal course of life. It means employer sanctions. It means no welfare, food stamps, housing, drivers licenses, or non-emergency health care for starters. The law already states these are not to be provided to illegal aliens, but with a little ID theft, the doors swing wide, because no one checks for bogus ID. It's also against the law to hire illegal aliens, but again, no one really checks ID, beyond filling out the requisite I9 form. As far as the economy goes, the economy was in fine shape without millions of illegal aliens, so there's no reason to believe there would be any correction. Maybe a little 'blip' if 30 million left overnight, but over a few months? Doubtful. A smaller population produces a smaller economy true, but not a less profitable one. I imagine the individual American will prosper like never before when the economy isn't skewed by illegal hiring practices, theft of services and illegal business competition.

*blushing at anonymous* And a tip of the hat to you, who are also obviously unwilling to hand over the country for a quick dime. Edward, you nailed it. Although I do wonder if a fence won't just mean illegal border crossers will be carrying ladders. It's really people that will make the main difference there, and we need a big enough border patrol that doesn't have to worry about being penalized for doing their jobs.

Enforcing immigration law isn't rocket science. It's done everyday all over the world - including Mexico - better than it is here. The core of enforcement would be the database that's mentioned by E-Verify. Is this database perfect? No and neither are the ones used by the IRS or SSA but that doesn't stop them from collecting taxes and paying benefits. As someone who worked in the IT field for over 35 years, I can state that the best way to correct errors on a database is to use it rigorously and FIND them. If the database has your ss# as 987-65-4321 and your name as Mary Smythe when your real info is 978-65-4321 and Mary Smith would you want to know and get it corrected ASAP? If 5 illegal aliens are using your ss#, wouldn't you want to know that and put a stop to it as well? As a volunteer, I help people on Medicare figure out their drug plans etc. In order to do this I need to know their Medicare #, date of activation, birthdate, etc. You'd be surprised at the times that I and my client have found that the Medicare database has incorrect data, such as birthday = 1/12/1937 instead of 11/2/1937 - an obvious data entry error. What occurs is that we can't "find" the client because the correct data that we enter isn't what the database shows. So what do we do? Yell that we need to shut down Medicare? No, we get on the phone and CORRECT the errors!!!

If you want illegal aliens out of the country, you are going to have to do it yourself. The Government is damn sure not going to do it for you. Doing immigration enforcement ourselves will serve two purposes: 1) The job will be done properly. 2) It will bring National Guard troops home from Iraq. The President will have to recall the National Guard because he will need them back here to throw our asses in prison with Ramos and Compean for doing the job that the Government won't fuckin do.