That would be all nice and well if enforcement wasn't a total farce. A nation can't argue sovereignty and then do nothing when it comes to enforcing it except s

That would be all nice and well if enforcement wasn't a total farce. A nation can't argue sovereignty and then do nothing when it comes to enforcing it except superfluous PR moves and policy actively detrimental to that goal. It's like a country of warhawks without an army - it makes no sense. Enforcement of immigration laws at the employer level is practically nonexistent - business impacting fines are almost unheard of. The I9 verification system is a complete joke, unless you're actually here legally and you slip through the cracks because under-trained reviewers don't actually know the rules. Some employers benefiting from the cheap labor even teach immigrants how to circumvent it and the decision makers almost never face anything close to deportation or criminal charges. About half of undocumented immigrants are here "illegally" because they overstayed their Visa. Tracking those Visa recipients and checking in on them at least once after expiration would be the easiest and cheapest way to reduce the undocumented immigrant population but, again, nonexistent. I'll stop there before I write a three page rant about all the shit I've experienced immigrating to the US legally. It's a farce and has only gotten more ridiculous over the last four years with ICE and the Executive Office for Immigration Review going out of control. The sad part is, I actually agree that illegal immigration is a threat to national security and stability. The second order economic effects are unpredictable, it creates a shadow economy that makes circumventing labor, environmental, safety, etc laws much easier, and despite diversity being America's strength, there is a lot of value in having some control over population growth and giving cultures time to acclimate. However, the crime isn't the illegal immigration, it's the total abdication of our legislators in their duty to protect our sovereignty and allowing an exploitative shadow economy to exist. There's no reason to punish the people stuck in the crossfire, especially when it makes defending sovereignty against actual criminals and enemies that much harder.