That is what the general public has been brainwashed into thinking so as to justify this never ending deluge by illegals.   The sad reality which never gets discusssed is that many aliens (and I'm not referring here to the ones crossing the border immediately to the south of the US) have been waiting for years to have the Immigration and Naturalization offices look at their cases and consider their request for legalization.   However, like many other bureaucracies in the nation, what many on both sides of the immigration argument ignore, is that the INS is totally screwed up.  They lose applicants' papers, screw up on appointment dates, request information sometimes impossible to obtain, etc., etc.    This rules out many aliens who sincerely desire to legalize thieir situation but are hindered by the very agency that has the power to do so.   When the INS makes a mistake, and they make many, it is the applicant who is penalized and suffers and has no way of correcting those mistakes made by the INS.

The answer to the illegal problem shouldn't lie within just securing the borders, although that should be the very first order of the house.   It would be in cleaning up a thoroughly corrupt and dysfunctinal INS so that worthy and useful immigrants can get their situation cleared up.  Instead, these folks who are often waiting for years to get their papers are turned down on frivolous excuses and mishaps created by the INS, while it is the illegals with no desires or lawful cause to seek legalization who sneak across the border.  These are the ones who somehow manage to muscle their way into social programs, medical care and cause serious influence on our governmental policies.

If people are afraid that our native American citizens have become too lazy and self indulgent, then it may be good for them to know that legal immigrants are always ready to take on jobs that they wouldn't do in their own countries either.   Anyone who has ever spoken with numerous immigrans from all over the world, knows that immigrants coming in from persecution,  or difficult situations at home, are more than willling to take on jobs that may sometimes be intellectually beneath them.   Honest people desire to make a living honestly, and are willing to put away their pride until they can better their cause.   This is what immigrant America used to be all about... I know... I was the child of two of them!!!!

Think that the immigration situation needs some action? - then build a wall and an electrified moat along the borders, kick out the parasites who take in more than they give and the thugs and criminals, clean up and revise the INS, widen the legal entrance quotas, grant amnesty to those who have been waiting patiently for years while being screwed up by the  immigration process--- and say, guess what?  You will still have people to wash your dishes and do your laundry and yard.  But hey, I don't know about you, but I would rather have these things go undone than having my country ravaged by those who use us and hate us simultaneously!!!!!

While you're at it, get rid of the plague of victim mentality and give your kids some moral backbone, for cryin' out loud!!.