At the American Conservative, Robert Merry posts "A Profound Question Behind the Immigration Debate" (link).

Behind the sturm und drang that greeted President Trump’s recent executive action on refugees lies the broader issue of U.S. immigration policies over the past half-century. And behind those immigration policies lies a profound question facing Americans: what kind of country do they want their country to be? ...

I left a modified version of this comment:

"This is a profound national alteration, and what’s remarkable about it is how little debate, or even discussion, has attended it until recently."

That's because the loudest voices on the anti side are almost all grifters playing to those who, to put it nicely, aren't exactly the sharpest knives in the drawer. Cons have been loudly opposing illegal immigration for years, and it's continued for years. If you're rational, that shows that *how* cons oppose it isn't working.

"Trump forced the issue to the forefront by saying they should all leave the country"

No he didn't. He's never supported attrition (where they'd leave on their own). He smeared Romney's half-hearted support for attrition. Instead, Trump has supported crazy ideas (mass deportations) and amnesty (touchback).

"Trump likely will succeed in deporting criminal elements within that number and in diminishing the inflow of illegal immigrants significantly."

His future plans - including the Wall - will suffer the same fate as his Muslim ban. Those plans will either be tied up in the courts or blocked by Congress. He can't reduce the inflow if he won't use smart plans and his dumb plans are blocked.

"Anti-Trump liberals want more immigrants"

Actually, there's a good number of liberals who at least oppose illegal immigration. Pretending all libs want that is self-defeating. The better thing to do is to make arguments that will resonate with liberals, turning them against their leaders. That's one of the key things that would solve the problem, but Trump's "arguments" are at the level of your average Breitbart commenter.

See Donald Trump for extensive discussions of how his plans would fail and smart plans that would actually solve the problem.