Problem: 11,000,000 and climbing.

No one knows how many illegal immigrants there are in the United States.  What we do know is that the number will continue to climb, and that the problems associated with this "phantom population" will continue to increase.

Solution: Amnesty, not felony.  And a war on Central American poverty.

There is no way that we can ever deport even a fraction of the people who are living illegally in the Unites States.  We all recognize that, and as such the amnesty program is the only viable solution to help those who are living responsible, if illegal, lives in the United States.  I particularly favor amnesty for families with children - trying to deport them or to convict them of felonies will only cause increased human suffering.  I question, however, the effectiveness of a program that levies fines and tax penalties - we may have to reconsider those policies if the program is to be made effective.

Charging illegal immigrants with a felony sends the wrong message, and I oppose it.  Ours is a country of immigrants - including my wife (Canadian) and my grandparents (Italian). I also have a good friend who happens to be German and a high-level executive for a Fortune 500 company.  He and his family were treated very badly during their immigration process. The vast majority of INS workers are courteous and professional, but I've personally had some bad experiences with them as well because of my foreign family ties - I can only imagine what it must be like for illegal immigrants. They are being exploited and abused, and we have to work harder to stop that maltreatment as well.

I oppose "guest worker" programs.  Such programs also send the wrong message - that it's OK to immigrate illegally.  Guest worker programs will only serve to exacerbate an already difficult problem.  I do favor better enforcement of existing immigration laws when it comes to the use of "undocumented" workers.  Enforcement is expensive, however, and there isn't a single agency in our government that has enough resources to effectively enforce the laws over which it has jurisdiction. The only possible solution is a carrot-and-stick approach - and when it comes to such issues, I always favor the carrot before the stick. Let's reward companies that voluntarily submit complete documentation on all of their workers and who agree to be spot-checked. And let's levy very stiff penalties for those who don't comply - let them live with the threat of documentation spot checks. I do want to make sure that everyone, regardless of their legal status, is treated fairly and humanely by our government.

I oppose the construction of a wall along the Texas-Mexico border.  A wall like that would send the wrong message as well, and its multi-billion dollar cost is money that would be better spent on addressing the root cause of illegal immigration - Central American poverty.  There are no easy answers to solve that problem, but we have to start somewhere, and the time to start is now.