As of December 2024, there were approximately 40 million illegal aliens (or people who should be classified as illegal aliens) living in the United States. Before Biden entered office, there were roughly 20 million illegal aliens in America. Two-thirds of that number were people who had overstayed lawful admissions

Under Biden another approximately 20 million entered, some of whom were apprehended at the border and released into the country, some were allowed to apply fraudulently for asylum and be admitted, some crossed illegally without interception, some were admitted under the bogus CBP-1 humanitarian parole program, and some came flooding in from Temporary Protected Status countries for whom Biden extended the program.

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All of them should leave the US, either on their own or by deportation. With perhaps a few exceptions (maybe CPB-1), they are all criminals. Every day, we hear stories of violent illegal alien felons and their pitiful victims.

We need to understand that unauthorized entry or overstay is a crime. Working without authorization, without paying mandatory payroll deductions (federal and state), and using a SSN or name not their own are all crimes. Accessing federal and state benefits under a false identity is criminal. Using another’s identity to access medical care, obtain bank loans, go to university, or buy a car is criminal fraud.

It is a corruption, and it is corrupting the soul of the nation. We are not a people who should wink at the commercial advantages gained by those who break immigration law by hiring illegals and not giving them the pay and benefits to which workers are entitled. Illegal aliens force everyone to pay more for housing—whether rental or by purchase—because illegal-driven demand exceeds supply.

Their presence forces longer waits for both routine and emergency medical care because hundreds of thousands fill the waiting rooms here rather than in their own countries. Americans are facing rising taxes to fund education from a shrinking base because of the number of children of illegal aliens filling up the classrooms. We all might not have been carjacked by an illegal, but their presence here is costing everyone far too much.

Despite this tremendous burden on Americans, even some conservatives are calling for a sort of softened legalization, motivated by misplaced sympathy for those illegally in this country, rather than for Americans or those who are following the rules to be here. History says that this is a foolish effort.

Let’s look at our big previous legalization program. The late David North of the Center for Immigration Studies wrote an excellent analysis of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1982 (IRCA). Among his conclusions were (1) much larger numbers than had been anticipated applied; (2) there was a great deal of fraud in the program; and (3) the fraud rarely resulted in a denial.

Enacting a legalization/amnesty program invites millions to “try their luck.” I can’t tell you how often I heard that from unsuccessful or ineligible visa applicants. They will swarm into the country by any possible means and route. Putting a limiting date on presence in the United States to determine program eligibility will only fuel innumerable fraudulent document mills, unscrupulous public notaries, and unethical immigration lawyers.

And who would these folks be? Current estimates are that 44% of illegals are Mexican, 3% are Filipino, 2% are Indian, 2% are Chinese, 25% are from other Central and South American countries, and 24% from the rest of the world.

Meanwhile, 4 million potential immigrants, just 10% of the number who should not be here, are currently waiting (some more than 20 years) for their legal immigration interview (due to congressionally-mandated numerical limitations). Of them, 30% are Mexican, 7% Indian, 7% Filipino, and 6% Chinese. See where this is going? We have millions waiting to join us the legal way, yet we’re considering letting criminal millions jump the line ahead of them.

I’d like to see all the illegals removed and if we decide as a policy that we need more immigrants, we should process as quickly as possible those already waiting in the legal way.  We can establish a cutoff of those already processed by USCIS and pending in the system.

Gad Saad’s next book, Suicidal Empathy, cannot be released soon enough. The title says it all. I’m afraid we’re headed down this path with a soft amnesty for the “good guy” illegals in the country. So, here’s a hybrid and much better proposal:

Should we choose to initiate a program to legalize aliens who are unlawfully present in the United States, it should be limited to those who entered the United States lawfully and overstayed their legal admission. We already have their data in our system (e.g., their names, dates and places of birth, passport numbers, dates admitted, and durations of stays authorized).

With these “overstays,” we don’t have to worry about fraudulent identities. They had a security check in our systems before receiving their visa or admission from a visa waiver country. They had a reason to be here. Many of them already had friends and relatives here who, if needed, can help them overcome the public charge ineligibility. Any who have committed crimes or obtained federal benefits via fraud can be excluded. Give the program a cut-off date that accepts only those here before November 3, 2020, to weed out those whose visas came when the Biden Administration took over.

We do not have to give them a path to citizenship. They can be granted conditional legal residency for life, as long as they avoid criminal behavior. This will take an act of Congress, something they need to get started on immediately. It can be a limited immigration bill, speeding up processing for those waiting, and permitting lifelong conditional residency for visa overstays not otherwise ineligible.

As it seems we may well go down this amnesty/legalization path, this proposal will make it as easy as possible for ourselves. We will not be rewarding those who entered illegally, with each one of them knowing they were committing a crime as they did so. We will also not be rewarding traffickers and trafficking.

This plan will partially satisfy the immigration hawks as well as the doves. A quasi-quasi for both sides of the debate.

Anony Mee is the nom de blog of a retired public servant who X-tweets at oh_yeahMee.