there are no illegal immigrants

A newcomer is either an immigrant (legal) or a trespasser (illegal); there is no such thing as an illegal immigrant.  I can't imagine why politicians fail to make this distinction.  It would help the discussion, I think, to avoid nonsensical language when discussing an issue.  If national borders are so porous that trespassers are automatically citizens, then why even have borders at all?

Columbus Day is observed in the USA on the second Monday of October, which is today.  It's meant to commemorate the day on 1492 October 12 when Columbus set foot on the Americas.  We actually have a holiday to celebrate the arrival of the first trespassers here.

For myself, I favor very lenient immigration laws.  I also favor unrelenting use of those laws.  I think that it should be easy to become an immigrant, and I think that trespassers should be deported.  I think that nationality should be inherited from parents rather than determined by where you were happened to pop out of your mother's belly.  I think it's time to end the pointless anchor baby fears by changing the citizenship clause of our constitution to something new.

My opinions don't fit easily into the left-versus-right politics in the USA at the moment.  I hope that's a good thing.