I’ll admit that there are no great solutions to this problem. All ideas that I’ve heard floated have serious downsides. But my thoughts are based on the following precept: we should do what results in the least amount of human suffering.
We’re a nation of laws, true. It’s tempting to say that there should be no flexibility or exceptions in how those laws are applied because it would relieve us of having to deal with the ambiguities of the true human reality in all its complexity. The law thus becomes an alibi for our collective conscience. But law applied in this mechanical fashion diminishes us in the end. When we find that law is at odds with our basic human sensibilities in a given situation, that’s a sign that we may need to question the law.
In this case, it seems clear to me that the course of least suffering is that those who have demonstrated a willingness to be constructive members of our society be allowed to stay. If their only transgression is having come here illegally, and they have no criminal convictions or warrants in their countries of origin, I’d be willing to give them the benefit of a doubt. Yes, they’ve broken a law by coming here; but most have harmed no one in the process, do not take more than they contribute to our society, and are only looking for the same thing all of our ancestors came here for. That hardly speaks ill of them as potential citizens. Give most of them a shot at living a law-abiding life and I think they’ll be more than happy to.
I’m somewhat sympathetic to the argument that this is unfair to those who have applied for residence legally. But the true source of their hardship lies in the fact that we have set up an immigration system that takes almost 20 years to negotiate. I’ll start listening to those who use the “unfairness” argument when they start working to make the legal route a more workable option. Until then, I’ll just assume that they’re more interested in keeping foreigners out than in fairness. This impossibly cumbersome system is the cause of much of the illegal traffic in the first place.
Trying to send illegals back would inevitably have a tremendous human cost, and I’m not convinced that anything would improve for our society as a result.