Let me ask you a question: why do so many people come here illegally? Terrorism? Sorry, we have more of the home grown variety that we need to worry about. (Funny, most of the foreign born terrorists terrorists we've dealt with have been in the country legally)
So why do they come here illegally? Originally, it was to earn a living that they couldn't afford to do in their homelands. Enter in US businessmen that are more than happy to hire these undocumented workers. If they get caught, the fines are little more than a slap on the wrist.They save more in that by paying substandard wages to these undocumented workers as well as skip around other laws, workplace safety being one of the biggest violations. When the talk of building the wall was loudly and often proclaimed during the last election, Americans were told that Mexico was going to pay for it. Perhaps we should look to the businesses that hire undocumented workers to pay for it. Of course, with the current sliding scale fining system, employers save more on wages than what they'd pay in fines. current minimum is $548 per illegal employee for first offense (max $4,384) at this level, most businesses get hit with the $548 amount) Second offense minimum is $4,384 with a maximum of $10,957 per illegal employee. All subsequent offenses have a minimum of $6,575 with a max of $21,916 per employee. I suggest that the minimum on the first offense be no less than $10,000 per employee, with an additional $2,000 for each employee. A single employee would cost $10K in fines, a second employee would cost $12K, a third would be $14K, a fourth, $16K, and so one. Second offense, minimum would be the highest amount paid for a single employee from the first offense, but the additional per employee would go up an extra $1,000, so it would start @ an extra $3K penalty. Every offense, the bump up would be $1000. Better believe that business owners would be jumping to change the immigration laws.
As for the morals and values? I want to make sure we are on the same page. Since you bring it up, I want you to quantify it. otherwise, I have to call bullshit on America EVER having morals and values. (and I can show it pretty easily, too)