There are approximately 10 million illegal aliens currently in the United States. Our current laws ignore the realities of why people come to our country illegally and/or overstay their welcome.
What the United States needs is comprehensive immigration reform.  We can create a program whereby illegal aliens will be falling all over themselves to register with the United States government.
We should establish registration centers in key locations throughout the United States. Any (non-felon) alien currently in the United States, regardless of how they got here, would be given exactly one year from the date of implementation to report for registration processing at one of these locations. They will be photographed, fingerprinted and submit a DNA sample for inclusion in a database. We then issue a biometrics-enhanced I.D. card identifying their status as a “registered non-citizen.”
After the one-year in-country registration period ends, anyone who is in the U.S. illegally who has not registered will instantly become a non-registered alien, subject to immediate arrest, possible imprisonment and guaranteed deportation.
You would then expect the U.S./Mexican border to be overrun by people trying to get into the U.S. and get registered, except there would also be registration centers at all United States border crossings, and at U.S. embassies in Mexico and perhaps around the world. Any non-felon alien will be able to register, even if they’ve never been to the United States, or even if they never plan to come here.  There will be no reason to rush our borders; the registration process will be open to all, whether they are already in the U.S. or still living at home, and no special amnesty will apply to those who have already broken our laws to come here. The only “amnesty” we are granting those already in the United States illegally is the chance to go home without having to worry that they’ll never get back into the U.S., which should actually greatly reduce the number of foreigners that stay in the U.S. permanently.
In fact, anyone attempting to illegally enter the U.S. after the registration process begins should be arrested, fingerprinted, have a DNA sample taken, then thrown in jail for 30 to 90 days, deported and prohibited from becoming a registered non-citizen for two years. Anyone attempting to illegally enter the U.S. a second time should be jailed for one year and prohibited from becoming a registered non-citizen for four years.  Anyone attempting to illegally enter the U.S. a third time should be imprisoned for two years, deported and banned for life from our country.
This does not mean we will allow unfettered immigration into our great country. We should establish a maximum capacity for people from each emigrating nation, set equal to the number of immigrants from that country that become registered non-citizens during the initial year of the program. Thereafter, whenever a registered non-citizen goes home, the next person in line gets their shot at coming to America.
It would certainly work better than what we’re doing now.

— Righteous Robb