Reg-- When I read your posts I feel like you're arguing against taking an extreme "do it all right now" approach. I don't think that's necessary. When an illegal is found, deport him/her. If someone is found aiding and abetting an illegal, prosecute him/her. When an employer of illegals is found, prosecute him/her. You're right, doing it all at once is massive, it can't be done. But doing it as the crimes are discovered, as with any other crime, is just regular law enforcement. Sure, we as a country have let this go on for far too long, but there is no reason why we can't start enforcing immigration laws now. I don't know why politicians are even involved, as there are already laws on the books that are not being enforced. This shouldn't be a political issue, it's a local law enforcement issue. Yet when local law enforcement tries to arrest an apartment owner for renting to illegals, there's suddenly a race riot (happened 10 miles west of me last year).

Does this seem unfair? Maybe to some. To me it seems like the right thing to do to protect our country. It's far more protection than sending our kids to Iraq with not enough training, armor, or support to "fight for Iraq's freedom".

Overall, and I could be wrong on this, but I don't think that there are a lot of legitimate "Companies" that hire illegals. Illegals are generally run by contractors, so that those "Companies" don't have any blood on their hands should those illegals be discovered. This is especially true in agriculture, where the farm operator will hire out a labor contractor. This allows the farm operator not to have to worry about taxes, I9s, etc., but instead just pays the labor contractor to get the job done. Find and prosecute the contractors. Follow the money there, and I think you're going to find organized crime, gangs, and drug lords.

"..we'll say that for every one of these illegal immigrants there are 5 people that are citizens of this country that are doing something to allow them to stay" I find your 5 to 1 number quite high. I think its probably more in line with 1 to 5, perhaps even lower than that. I don't have any desire to prosecute someone who doesn't turn in someone who lives down the street or who applied for their nanny position. I do think we should prosecute someone who knowingly hires and/or harbors an illegal.