First before any decision about those illegally in the country is made the border has to be sealed. Our border is far too large to be policed by man power alone; we will need a wall and as quick as possible. A country without a definable border is not a country at all.

Next the current laws we have codified must be enforced. There are plenty of good laws on the books that are never acted upon. Because of this businesses go about nearly publicly hiring illegal immigrants because they know they won't be forced to atone for their actions. Punishment of these business is already allowed by law and this is the easiest way to dissuade illegal immigration. It's far easier to run around and punish these business than it is to round up illegals. Without the incentive of willing employers far less will attempt to breach the border.

I'm against any kind of amnesty. Giving illegals citizen status isn't fair to those who have been legally waiting to gain entry to the country and more importantly we can't be rewarding people for breaking our laws.

Since the unconstitutionality of awarding citizenship to those born on U.S. soil of non-American citizens, I would like a constitutional amendment to clarify the language in the 14th amendment so that citizenship is not automatically granted to anyone born within the U.S. borders. This will dissuade further illegal immigration further and stop the abuse of American social programs by non-citizens.

Pat, I don't know of any European country that is fenced in. The prospect of building a fence is laughable in its simplicity. Who will build it? It sems that illegals make up a large portion of the manual labor population because a formal education is not needed. You'll be hard pressed to get an illegal immigrant to build a fence meant to keep others out.

Yes no European country has a fenced border but a majority of them are bound together by the EU. Contractors will build the fence here in America.

I don't necessarily have a problem with giving illegals here a chance to receive the proper documentation, as long as they reimburse the government for back taxes and for breaking our laws, but allowing them to remain in the country while this happens is de facto immigration.

I think to assert that the American Dream is dead in America is an insult to middle and lower class families working to raise their position in the social strata and forge a better life for their children. The American Dream is by no means dead in America and it is by no means embodied by people who's first act upon entering our country is breaking the law.

I would like to add a large disclaimer that what I'm about to say does not apply to all illegals, but

we can't have this romanticized view of illegals as humble workers trying to live the American Dream. Many of them are here just to give birth and reap the benefits of the state's welfare system.

To view a fenced border just as a matter of "illegal Immigration" is shortsighted also. Before you travel halfway around the world to fight terrorism in an foreign country, you should worry about it walking across your border as could easily be done  now. Of course, the governments refusal to track those here on visas and deport those here on expired ones adds a whole other dynamic I suppose.

Equality 7-2521 wrote: Yes no European country has a fenced border but a majority of them are bound together by the EU. Contractors will build the fence here in America.

What's the relationship between these two sentences???

Anyway, despite the fact that we have the EU, immigration is up to national governments, not to the EU government. Fences, illegality don't work, nor does our current government focus on integration. The latter is saddening: instead of immigrants 'integrating', more and more of our own people start adopting the ways (religion, clothing, ideas) of the immigrants.

She could be a bomb

The word invasion has nothing to do with armed combat. It only means to intrude or the entrance of something troublesome. The need for the term "invading armies" shows that invasion does not presuppose armed combat.

Illegal immigration hasn't always been there. It's largely a mid-20th century thing. Even so the level just of illegal immigration today blows all comparisons out of the water. The following are the levels of immigrants of Americas three largest immigrant groups that came here between 1607 and 1958

Germany - 6,798,3143

Italy - 5,017,625

Great Britain - 4,642,096

The estimated number of illegal immigrants in our country today is 12-20 million. Taking the absolute low ball of this figure there are more illegal immigrants in our country now than have ever legally emigrated here from Germany and Italy combined in America's history.  Instead of coming from a European culture which is much more similar to ours, making them more easily to assimilate, they nearly all come from a country with little history of assimilation into the U.S., from a country that carries a grudge against the U.S. and feels its lands were stolen by the U.S. when its country was young.

You're really changing subject with the Irish issue. Nobody is advocating discrimination here. I'm a 4th generation Irish immigrant, I understand how hearing those stories is emotional. I'm certainly not against this treatment of any citizen. However, the stark difference is the Irish came here legally and we are talking about people coming here illegally, breaking laws and with no right to reap the benefits of U.S. citizenship without being subject to the jurisdiction of the state.

Also, "English Only" signs are by no means a form of racism. What race are they discriminating against? The race of people that doesn't speak English? That doesn't exist. It's not discriminatory. Shop owners live in an English speaking country; they speak English. They do not want to be troubled catering to people and trying to understand people who don't know the language. Everyone else's descendants took the time to learn the English language and become a part of the country. An unwillingness to do so shows an unwillingness to abandons one's own traditions and become an American.

Your ancestors did not do the something. Your ancestors turned their backs forever on their own country, pledged allegiance to America, became an American blood and soul and forged a better life. They did not break into America, make no attempt to even learn its language let alone become an American, and exploit its economic superiority, and return to their home and family in the motherland that they still pledge their allegiance to.

If you think the illegal immigration issue is a shame I'd say you're un-American. Our founding fathers and every president up until JFK warned against illegal immigration and warned of the importance of assimilating. As Teddy Roosevelt said "

The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities."