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Immigration is a good thing and we need more of it. There is a lot of untapped talent in this world, and this country can give that talent more opportunities to flower than most other countries can.
I'm not thrilled that so much of our immigration is from one place and not thrilled that it's illegal, either. We do need to get better control of our borders. But we certainly do need immigrants; we benefit from their energy and their leavening of the culture. If it was up to me, I'd want immigration from diverse sources (in practice, this would mean, in all likelihood, more Asians and Africans, and fewer Mexicans), with a much better system to welcome people without degrading them. The current system is a disgrace. It's not that I have anything against Mexicans, it's just that they seem to have an unfair advantage as against other potential immigrants because of their proximity. I see no reason we should necessarily want more immigrants from Mexico than from, say, Guatemala or Nepal or Indonesia or Benin. It's more that the Mexicans have luck of the draw because of the accident of geography, and that's a lousy way to set immigration policy.
As for the 12 million here illegally - I'd offer a path to normalization, so long as it's not penalty-free. People who have the gumption to seek out opportunity are the kind of people I like to have here, but I don't want to encourage mass lawbreaking, so there has to be some downside to having broken the law and come in illegally. Those who have gone through the process to immigrate legally shouldn't be made to feel like chumps by the country just welcoming in those who didn't follow the rules.
Going forward, more LEGAL immigration, get rid of illegal. And more immigration from more places.
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