I advocate that:

-The federal government must secure our borders, controlling entry and exit points.
-Deporting any illegal immigrant found guilty of a crime against a person or private property.
-Allowing those already here who have committed no crimes against a person or private property to register as foreign workers and legally join our economy.
-A flat national sales tax would ensure that all individuals living within our borders would be shouldering the full burden of taxation.

As a believer in liberty, I think the government should be strictly limited to its sphere of influence in our personal lives.  However, if the federal government were to do nothing else, it would still need to secure our borders.  Once the borders are secure, we can proceed to deal with the current immigrants inside our borders.

We have a problem with immigration in this country.  This problem has grown through the decades and there is no simple solution.  I would here like to paint a clear picture of the reality we face as a nation and point towards a possible way forward.

A family came across the border illegally years ago.  They brought with them their three year old daughter.  She has no memory of the experience.  This girl grew up in the United States.  She attended school through the 12th grade, worked and paid her way through college and has a full time job.  She is married to an American man currently serving in the United States Armed Forces.  She has two children with this man.  She speaks English perfectly, works hard, and is a contributing member of society.  She is an American in her beliefs and values, but not on paper.  She is still, after over twenty years in this country considered an illegal immigrant that many zero amnesty proposals would have deported.  She is not an isolated case.  The problem of illegal immigration has been going on for so long and has been so rampant that there are millions of illegal immigrants that fall into this category.  Attempting to deport all illegal immigrants would cause a civil war.

The truth is that the strain of illegal immigration is simply another unfortunate side effect of the welfare state the politicians and voters of this country have created.  When there are countless governemnt funded social programs offered free of charge, society must always be concerned with the strain caused by those not paying taxes.  Although there are some racists who oppose all immigration, the major complaint regarding illegal immigration is the burden it puts on the tax payer and the economy.   An open and honest tax system in the form of a national sales tax would ensure any individual, whether an American citizen or not, that lived in this country would shoulder the full burden of taxes.

The next step would be to allow Mexicans, Canadians, or anyone else who wanted to work in this country to come and work under the condition that American citizens could go to those countries to work or start businesses.  Allow foreigners to work as foreign workers, paying taxes in the form of a single national sales tax.  Those parasites that came just to take advantage of free programs will leave or get a job.  Those honest men and woman that came to this country looking only for opportunity would be foreign workers shouldering the burden of taxation along with full citizens. 

Remember that America is full of immigrants and always has been.  A free society will always be a draw for hard working people looking to write their own destinies in this world.  A welfare state will always be a draw for parasites.  Return the United States to a free society with an honest tax system and most of the burdens and problems of illegal immigration will take care of themselves.