>>I think (guessing) that many conservatives (like Marcia and myself) would be in favor of giving amnesty to all illegals currently in the country. If - big if - the government would enforce the borders. Otherwise, the amnesty will be nothing more than a magnet to others to break the law.

Fair enough. However, sometimes the best cure involves understanding why things happen in the first place. So, why does it make sense for illegals to swarm across the border? If the answer is poverty on the other side, then what would it cost to resolve that? Perhaps it would cost less to establish opportunities down there than to enforce an enormous porous border that is almost impossible to protect. Certainly it's not possible to present these border-jumpers as layabouts, they're desperate for work so why not give them what they want without requiring them to cross the border?