>>The problem with illegal immigrants in the US is, IMO, the fault of the system, which has looked the other way for decades. All of a sudden there's this huge campaign to do something about it - probably as a distraction from more pressing problems.
>
>
>My understanding is Germany has welcomed immigrants (with work visas, not illegals) as cheap labor but has given them virtually no chance to become citizens. That is a model I sure hope we don't follow.

I'm not sure of the "virtually no chance", because there were people who stayed for twenty years or more. I guess they didn't really care about citizenship, when home was just a day's drive away and they could travel freely both ways.